Fairy Tail: Gaia
by raydark182
Summary: After the passing of his family, including the disappearance of his adopted Grandmother, Rodin Clark and his Exceed partner, Trixie, find themselves with a task left behind by his late father. Though little do they know, this simple delivery would soon turn into the biggest ride of their lives. OC characters included. I do not own Fairy Tail or it's creations. (indef-Hiatus)
1. First Beginning

**_Hello everyone, it's Raydark and I'm back with trying to once again work on here as a way to sort of push through some of the issues I've been having in my life the past two years. I know a lot of you are expecting me to upload more chapters, but this may end up losing my interest as well. I will do my absolute best to keep this interesting, but if I don't finish it or add to it by more than two years, I hope someone can continue my work. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the tale of Fairy Tail: Gaia, the story about one new generation Dragon Slayer that entered the world of Fairy Tail due to his father's connection. There will be spoilers for the story so be cautious if you're still new to Fairy Tail, and lastly, I do not own any of the characters, locations, and anything else related to Fairy Tail except for some characters I plan on adding through the story._**

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_**Fairy Tail: Gaia **_

_**Chapter 1**_

_** First Beginning**_

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**7 years ago**_

_**July 7th, X777, Hinder Village**_

_The warm morning sun began to rise above the mountain to the west, gleaming the field of flowers bellow with it's golden light, marking the beginning of a brand new day. The lights slowly passed through the cracks of the mountains shadow, making their way towards **Hinder Village**, giving it a gentle wake-up call for all the villagers . Many people living there slowly rose up from their beds and began preparations for their annual festival of showers, an age old tradition to celebrate the successful harvest. Many of the houses stood tall with floral decorations, most using the flowers blooming from the base of the mountain, all in anticipation for the evenings festivities to arrive._

_However,__ one particular house on the far-side of the forest, void of no decorations or festive atmosphere, stood alone in the hollow forest without anyone around it or in it as some might assume. The house was shown to be painted fully white, marked with a __brown roof on the top as a few feet from it stood in front of an extraordinary cave,__ thrice the size of an ordinary one as it appeared created by something giant. In the inside of the house, it showed to be normal furniture and rugs, but with some unique pieces of furniture that were actually made out of pure rock, carved by hand and smoothed out to allow for it to be used. Inside one of the rooms was a twelve year old boy, tanned with shaggy hair that went down his forehead and nearly passing his nose, wearing a simple attire of one small black-tank top and red shorts._

_Lying down on his bed, the boy had tossed and turned in his sleep, leaving him now in what was a cocoon made from his blanket with it almost encasing him except around his head. The child began to __softly __move around once more in it, almost like he was reenacting the dream going on inside of him. In his mind, he found himself walking around in a large valley between two walls of stone, each one consisting of multiple average-sized statues that were carved into them, showing each one to have the boy's face as their own. He stopped his walking before turning to the left side when he heard a faint roar reverberating in the valley, making him harden with fear at the mysterious sound._

_ Suddenly, the valley itself began to shake, almost like it was consumed with fear as the statues came to life and flew outward of their spots, floating in mid-air with many looking downward towards the boy. With fear in his heart, he began running backward with all his strength, trying to outrun the statues as they turned from ordinary to free-moving ones, landing on the ground and dashing on all fours in an attempt to capture their target. All the boy could do was run and cry out for his mother or father, none of which answered his call, and instead heard the familiar roar echoing throughout the valley. Looking up from a shadow casting over him, the boy trembled at the sight of the monster, seeing the beast opening it's mouth, viewing a glow emanating inside before looking downward, firing a blast of energy directly into the valley itself to carve it's way to the child as he screamed in fear._

_The blast never connected however, due to the intense rumbling going on throughout the house itself, vibrating him out of the bed and waking him up from the dreadful nightmare he was having. Taking a few seconds to wake up and realize what was initially going on, the boy ducked underneath his deck, covering the back of his neck to protect it from falling objects.__ The shaking eventually halted as he slowly peered his head out to see if there was anyone out there, he could sense no magic, and made his way off the floor to look out the window._

_"What was that…?" He thought to himself before quickly putting on his slippers to investigate outside, rushing out the door to the front of his house, looking around to see what had caused it. He turned over to what appeared to be two graves with two different shaped tombstones on the top as he bowed in respect before turning to the abnormally large cave behind his house. He saw what appeared to be some trees blown down, broken off or ripped apart by something big, making him realize that there was only one thing strong enough to do it. _

_"Grandma?!…Grandma, are you there?" He shouted as the young boy went rushing to where the cave was, but before he could enter, he saw what appeared to be writing etched right into the mountain._

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_**Dear Rodin, by the time you find this I will have left this home for good, one day I hope you can forgive me my grandson,please keep yourself safe and always remember, you're never alone. Love Grandma.**_

* * *

_All Rodin could do at this point was stare at the writing,overwhelmed with shock. He simply fell to his knees and covered his face in an attempt to try and muffle his cries, not wanting anyone to hear the sounds of a kid his age crying for mommy and daddy._

* * *

**_Present_**

**_Fiore_**

**_Magnolia Town, Train Station _**

**_Year X784_**

It was high-noon on the plains of **Fiore**, the sun's light radiating down onto the ground, giving nutrients to the rows of grass and flowers to help them grow better for mother nature. The area showed signs of tranquility and calm with some of the animals out in the open to enjoy the day, until the sounds of heavy machinery and the smell of burning ash rushed through in the form of a large passenger train, ending the sense of peace with the animals retreating back to their homes. The sun's light reflected on the top of the train, causing a blinding flash of light to occur and scare some of the local wildlife with each passing moment it made its way to the next destination: **Magnolia Town**.

Slowing down it's speed, the train was approaching the city's train station with its monstrous presence causing many of the awaiting passengers to back away when the sounds of screeching brakes echoed loudly, scaring some individuals by surprise when they were otherwise occupied. The massive machine fully stopped when it reached the proper position, releasing the pent-up smog that it had stored up as the conductor opened the door to allow all of its passengers to exit the train.

While the crowd was exiting the train into the station, two cloaked people, one being shorter than the other, got up from their seats after everyone left and grabbed their luggage, including one large trunk that was resting on the floor of their cabin before walking out of their room.

"Remind me next time to make you work harder to get a better cabin, there's no room here for all your crap," a female voice floated from the shorter being as the other easily lifted the trunk and held it onto his back all while looking down.

"My crap? The only reason I'm lugging this around is cuz we're delivering it, besides, you were able to sleep fine while I ended up falling down on this damn thing, Twice!" He said in frustration as they both exited the train to step onto the platform and proceed into the crowd. "At least that nightmare is over, A whole week of train travel doesn't do too well for my stomach".

"Oh quit being a baby," Trixie remarked harshly before pulling down her cloak to reveal an unusual looking feline, covered in white and brown fur with one of her ears holding a pink ribbon on it, sprouting wings from the back of her cloak and floating up to meet the face of her companion. "I'll go on ahead and set us up with a hotel, then we'll meet at this"Fairy Tail Guild" so we can get rid of that stupid trunk" She said with a scoff before floating away as the cloak fell off, revealing herself to have tufted fur on her ears and cheeks, long tapered white markings above her green eyes, neck, shoulders, back, and hind paws, The tip of her tail has a curved, vaguely scythe-like extension with a ribbon on it as well, and lastly a diminutive black nose on her tanned muzzle with small oval cream-colored marking above each eye.

Her attire consisted of miniature clothing, including her wearing a black tube top that surrounded her chest all the way to the back, along with long, detached white sleeves that have golden bangles that reached to her forearms while covering her wrists, and lastly a long brown skirt with what appeared to be small shorts underneath it for easier mobility.

"And she wonders why everyone gets scared when we get into the city?" He grumbled to himself in irritation as he took off the hood of his cloak to reveal Rodin, now nineteen-years old, but showing signs of maturing since due to his complexion looking more defined, in addition to a jagged scar going down his right eye, and his now short-spiky hair that stood up without any use of gel of any kind. He looked at the city map close by and found his destination before he started walking forward into the station, taking the first initial steps of his long journey with Fairy Tail and to his life.

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_**And so begins the First Chapter, let me know if there's something I need to fix, grammar issues, or some ideas that you may want to see for future references. Stayed tune for Chapter 2: Memory Lane. I'd like to thank Lost Comet and BananaManiaBubblegum, my two Beta's for helping me with this story and reediting as well, I greatly appreciate them and recommend you check out their work, it's simply amazing. Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for Chapter 2: Memory Lane. **_


	2. Memory Lane

**Chapter 2**

_**Memory Lane**_

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_**Magnolia Town**_

_** Town Square**_

The city streets were packed with large crowds of people surrounding the multiple establishments that the town had to offer including restaurants, stores, and the many different taverns all in one convenient spot. Some of the local townsfolk and tourists also found themselves drawn to the traveling merchants that set up shops in the town square, using their own wagons to act like their stands for people to come towards and look upon. The thrill of excitement and opportunity filled the atmosphere, and with it, came many that wanted to be part of it.

However, among even the go-happy people, was one individual who despite feeling the amazing energy of the area, still felt the need to keep himself composed in case of any incidents that might occur. That individual was Rodin Clark, still covered in the cloak he owned except without the hood covering his head, making him seen unusual by the people he passed by when they noticed the large trunk he was carrying on his back with his hand. The young man simply ignored the looks he got from people and focused on what his current objective was: Finding the famous guild of **Fairy Tail **and delivering the trunk to it's Guild Master.

After making his way through the crowds and back to a quiet section of the town, Rodin noticed that he was very close to a local park, and decided to take a break from all the lugging he did since his arrival. Walking into said park, he looked around to try and find a nice spot where he could rest for a moment, eventually locating a shaded tree that looked perfect and made his way there, placing the trunk on the ground against it and sitting on the top, exhaling a breath of exhaustion. The small peaceful silence was interrupted when a familiar sound he knew all too well reverberated from his own stomach, making him realize that he hadn't eaten much since he got off the train.

"Haha, always on time aren't you belly?" Rodin spoke to himself in a chuckle before pulling off the cloak to reveal a gray traveling backpack that he had on, pulling off his back and opening the first pocket to take out a black silk bag with the initials, _L.C_, on the front. He softly shook the bag, causing the contents inside to clash with each other, creating a sound familiar to a baby's rattle toy. "Only got about a few left, guess after this I should go looking for some more close by," He stated before opening the bag to reach in, pulling out a smooth black stone the size of his thumb, causing him to lick his lips and take a bite out of it. The stone easily broke apart with that bite, allowing Rodin to eat it as if it was a spongecake and chew it ease with the sounds of crunching emanating from his mouth.

After swallowing the first half of the stone and beginning to chew the second in his hand, Rodin went back into his bag to look for something else, pulling out what appeared to be a large envelope that had been opened beforehand. Setting down the silk bag on the trunk next to him, he casually opened the envelope to pull out what showed to be a letter that was inside of it, revealing another set of initials, _A.C_, before pulling back the folded paper to read it's content in his mind.

* * *

_**Dear Rodin**_

_**If this letter was delivered to you, it means that I've passed on, and now it's just you and your mother, unless that old hag lizard still hasn't left her cave anytime soon. I know it's been difficult not having me around when you needed me, I admit, I haven't been any kind of father to you when you needed it, but believe me when I say that everything I did was for the greater good**__**. Hopefully maybe one day, you can find it in your heart to forgive this worthless man of his past sins. I know that once you turn 13, you'll want to go explore the world all your own. **_

_**However, I have one final selfish request for you that I need done. First off, wait until you're 19 and have mastered your magic, the world is filled with powerful mages that can swat droves of enemies like flies. After your birthday, there will be a package waiting for you in a storage located in the next town over. Head west of Fiore and**__** deliver it to my old hometown**_**_, Magnolia, and give it to the Guild Master of Fairy Tail. The trip itself will take a few weeks so have plenty of jewels in hand just in case something happens.I can't tell you what's inside, but it's important that you deliver this to them soon as you can. Be warned, Fairy Tail is probably one of the craziest places you'll probably see, but who knows, maybe you'll grow to like them._**

**_No matter what happens in the future Rodi, know that I did what I had to in the name of something bigger, and I've never stopped thinking about you or Jasmine. Get stronger son and become a better man, I'll always be proud of you and the family you'll have one day._**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_Adrian Clark_**

* * *

Despite the moving words that his father wrote for him, Rodin simply looked at the paper with nothing more than a blank stare, stuffing it back into the envelope and swallowing the rest of the stone he was eating. All the slayer could do at that point was look down at the ground with frustration, trying to gain some form of understanding as to why? Why would his own father just up and leave his family without even saying anything or even telling them about it. He felt the old anger he still had for him, not having felt it since the day not only his mother had died, but his own grandmother, Terragina, had left him alone with nothing but the graves and an empty house. Shaking his head to rid him of the painful thoughts, he decided that it would be best to continue and finish his delivery so he and Trixie could leave the town and continue traveling.

Putting the silk bag into his backpack and strapping it onto his back, Rodin stood up and added his cloak on before grabbing the heavy trunk and lifting it back to how he was carrying it before. He continued his way to the guild, looking at the map that he pulled out from the bag to try and locate which part of town it was in. The slayer hadn't heard much of what the Fairy Tail guild was, only hearing multiple rumors and stories during the travel to the west, including some that involved very decorative people from there. He never had any intention of trying to join any guild entirely, despite some even offering a place when they met and saw what he could do. He never understood the ideology behind it and wondered why they were created in the first place, remembering about what some of them told him their beliefs were.

The hard-thinking he did was interrupted when he found himself bumping into a trash-can, seeing that he had walked far off the path to the guild and somehow ended up in an alleyway that was enclosed. Before he could turn around to get out of there, the sounds of bottles clinging together when they fell down echoed in the alley, causing the slayer to turn around and see a few thugs coming around him menacingly from the only exit accessible.

"Lookie here boys, he seems to be lost doesn't he?" The leader of the pack dictated while he walked forward passed his men and laughing cockily.

"Yeah boss, looks like a drifter, maybe carrying all his stuff in that trunk," one of the lackey's boasted with an annoying laugh that followed, causing Rodin to roll his eyes in annoyance by the display of dominance they were trying to show.

"Look, much as I'm sure this might actually scare me, I don't have time for this so if you don't mind..." Rodin began to say while he walked forward, but stopped when he noticed them pulling out deadly weapons from inside their clothes, laughing evilly at the slayer's surprise.

"Naw I don't think so, see since you're new in Magnolia there's a rule that we have about newcomers that go through our territory, they give us all their stuff and go back to where they came from," The leader boasted menacingly before licking the sharp edge of his weapon and spitting out the blood that resulted from the cut that it gave him on his tongue.

"Oh brother, oh well... Don't say I didn't warn you..." Rodin remarked before he looked at them with seriousness in his eyes, followed by a sudden emerging glow of brown-colored energy emanating from his body that showed to become bigger and bigger each second that passed. Some of the thugs felt the air shift around them, gaining a sense of uneasiness with it when they felt the rumbling in the alley due to Rodin's magic energy surging. The slayer suddenly stopped glowing before he opened his mouth, inhaling a large amount of air inside his lungs that caused his chest to puff out a bit more slightly than normal, making the thugs begin to shake with nervousness at what the young man was doing, all except for the leader. The pack leader yelled out in rage while rushing to Rodin in an attempt to stab him, but didn't expect the slayer to put his hands together around his mouth, creating a magic circle in front of him and blowing out the air into it.

"**Stone Dragon's Roar!**"

The release of the blast could be felt throughout the entire area with the very ground itself shaking, even causing some alarm to the people that were in the town center, wondering what had happened in their own town. The dust in the ally began to clear with the small wind that blew by, revealing most of the thugs had been belted with large pieces of sharp stone pieces, their bodies bloodied and their clothes torn apart, all while Rodin cleaned off some of the dust that blew back on his cloak and pat it off.

"Ugh..." a voice was heard from one of the people, making Rodin look over to see the leader of the gang barley able to stand, and looking now at Rodin with a sense of horror and fear in his face. "What..what the hell are you..." He quaked before Rodin walked towards him, pulling back the sleeve of his cloak to show his arm now transformed into one of pure solid stone, which was thrown by Rodin and connected with the face of the leader, sending him flying right into the wall of a building a few feet away from them.

"My name is Rodin Clark, **Stone Dragon Slayer**, don't ever show your pathetic faces around here ever again" He barked with his magical aura emerging into an apparition of a stone dragon, causing most of the thugs to run away in fear from what they just witnessed. Rodin shook his head and head out of the alley, getting his bases before he recognized that the location he was seeking was close by. Taking one last look around, he cracked his neck and continued forward on his walk towards his destination and one step closer to completing his request of his late father.

* * *

_**Fairy Tail Guild**_

In the southern part of town not far from the coast, up Magnolia's central path, stood the infamous and most well-known guild-hall that all of Fiore had come to know, **Fairy Tail**. The glorious building consisted of three floors and incorporated several architectonic styles: it took on a shape reminiscent of a pagoda, with each floor being smaller than the one below it and sitting on the latter's roof. The roof also bore great resemblance to those of real pagoda, consisting of extremely long, arched tiles lined up one after the other and possessing simple curved protrusions jutting upwards on the building's angles. At the tip-top of the building, stood proudly the mark of Fairy Tail, waving in the wind without any restraints or rope keeping it from being spread free. Right down in front of said guild-hall was Rodin, who had found himself in awe of what he was seeing, not having seen too many guilds, it left a lasting impression on him before making his way to the front door and pushing it open.

Inside of the massive guild hall, were shown to be multiple mages spread across in different tables, some drinking and having a good laugh while others were looking through the job board listings to see what kind of requests they could take. The bartender, who appeared to be a very beautiful woman with large breasts and white-snow hair, could be seen passing through as she replaced empty wooden mugs with filled ones, smiling before returning back to the bar counter. Her appearance was shown to have a sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt. The chest adorned by a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the rather ample neckline, acting as straps, and circle around the waist, and her footwear being those of high heels while wearing a small chain necklace with a blue oval gem attached to it around her neck.

Her attention then turned to another woman a few feet from her, a brunette who was only wearing heels, tight jeans, and a blue bikini top and had a large wine barrel in front of her, drinking it straight from it instead of in a regular mug. This caused the white-haired woman to scold the brunette, who simply shrugged it off and got back to the conversation they were in before.

"Haha, oh man I cannot wait for Natsu and the others to get back from their last job ever, I'm so looking forward to seeing what the old man has in store for them" The drunk woman giggled, slurring her words before she took another big sip of her barrel.

"Oh Cana, you always enjoying seeing others get the short end, don't you?" The bartender replied to her, scrubbing down the bar to make it clean with a smile on her face.

"Come on Mirajane, you have to admit some part of you likes Natsu and Gray crying like little girls, especially after the last time those two idiots got into serious trouble" She giggled with laughter before slamming down the barrel onto the bar counter, yelling for a refill while Mira laughed happily, but then stopped when she heard the sounds of the main doors opening. This caused most of the guild members to stop what they were doing and turn around to see who had returned, only to find that it was a new face that entered through those doors.

Rodin felt a bit overwhelmed by how many people would actually be inside the guild hall when he passed through the doors, and was especially surprised to see them all looking directly at him with confusion on their faces as if they were trying to figure out who the hell he was. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he walked in despite the looks and made his way to an empty table, waving his hand at the bartender, causing her to grab a pad and pencil to take an order when she got over there to the new person.

"Hello there, Welcome to Fairy Tail, can I get you anything?" Mira politely asked while Rodin could still feel the stares at him like hawks, but continued to ignore it before looking back to the bartender to see her cheery smile, which somehow made him feel at ease despite the tension being so thick one could cut it with a knife.

"Um... Maybe just some water please? I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I was hoping to talk with the Guild Master.." He replied with most of the guild-members looking on with suspicion, some even standing up as if they were being cautious by what he asked. Rodin wanted to prepare his magic in case he had to fight, but knew that it'd be best to simply keep calm and not draw too much attention to himself.

"Well, is there a particular reason why you would want to speak to the Master? If this is regarding a mission request, you must follow the proper channel's with the magic council.." Mira stated before looking at him with a bit of suspicion, knowing that most residents who lived in Magnolia had knowledge of that, and began to gain a sense of concern with who the person in front of her was.

"Oh no, it's nothing like that, it's just I was actually sent here on a request myself from my father who had passed away a some time ago, oh hold on..." He stated before taking off his cloak and bag, reaching in it to pull out an unopened letter that was addressed to Master Makarov. Mira grabbed the letter from Rodin's hand, looking at the back to what appeared to be a special magic seal that could only be opened by the person it was addressed to, knowing now that he was telling the truth after all.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll be right back" Mira acknowledged and went towards one area of the guild, going through the door, and leaving Rodin alone with the rest of Fairy Tail, trying not to be intimidated by the stares he was getting. Suddenly, a large brown barrel slammed onto his table, surprising him and making him look forward to see the brunette from the bar now sitting across from him. Rodin could smell the stench of booze from her, thanking his grandmother for having a weakened sense of smell due to Stone Dragon's unique trait of no smell capability. Cana pushed the barrel to the side, staring at Rodin with her red face from being intoxicated.

"You know...you're kind of cute looking, little rough and dusty but hell, I'd make out with you" She stated slurring with laughter at the fact her remark made Rodin blush bright red, causing everyone in the guild to laugh, some even cheering her on as he cleared his throat. "So, what do they call you?"

"My name is Rodin, Rodin Clark" He replied to the girl, who moved in a little closer towards him, giggling like a school girl before she belched right in the direction of his face, making the slayer cringe in disgust by the mixture of hot breath and booze smell.

"Alright Cana, stop teasing the poor guy," Mira remarked when she came back, causing Cana to grab her barrel and moving out of the way for a short elderly man that jumped on top of the table to stand in front of the slayer. His attire consisted of dressing in a casual manner with a white shirt with black Fairy Tail stamp in the middle, which was covered by an orange hoodie. His attire was completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat on his head, plus a large staff that he was holding in his right hand that was twice his size.

"Mira, be a dear and bring us two mugs please," He kindly asked Mira, in which she smiled and went back to the bar, fixing up two drinks for the both of them before bringing it back to them. After placing the drinks in front of the two people, Mira returned to her job with most of the other mages now back to their normal rowdy selves, making Rodin look at them with a bit of confusion with Makarov laughing. "Not what you're used to huh boy?".

Rodin nodded at the Master's remark, looking down at his drink to take a swig from it, almost spitting out the liquid when he drank a small bit from the mug. However, not wanting to show any disrespect to the kindness that was shown, he forced himself to swallow it and slammed the mug back before he opened his mouth in disgusted by what he had just put into his body.

"Hahaha, not much of a drinker, are you?" Makarov laughed with amusement.

"No, first time ever drinking entirely..." He replied to the master while shaking his head and taking a second to get over the initial shock before trying to speak again, "I'm sorry to bother you Master Makarov, my name is.."

"Rodin Clark, son of Adrian Clark, yes son I know who you are" He replied in a serious tone before taking another swig of his beer, making Rodin look at him with a shocked look on his face. In his mind he wondered how the Master himself knew about his father, but remembered that his father told him that he was delivering both the trunk and the letter to the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, making him realize that it meant his own father was part of Fairy Tail before he was born.

"So you knew my father?" Rodin inquired at the man in front of him.

"Knew him? Haha, you're father was probably one of the most hyperactive members of Fairy Tail, I swear he'd wanna do more than he could handle and then some, but I must admit I never expected him to have a son" He replied to the slayer before grabbing the still full mug and adding it to his own drink, "My name is Makarov Dreyer, in case it wasn't clear enough, I'm the Third Guild Master of Fairy Tail, it's a pleasure to finally meet the son of Adrian" The master replied happily before using his magic to stretch out his arm towards Rodin, waiting for him to shake it.

Rodin looked at him with a bit of hesitation in his heart, but saw the master's warm smile, making his fears dissipate slowly and taking the hand of the Master, shaking firmly.

"It's an honor, I have to say that I didn't expect to learn something about my dad here of all places, I mean it wasn't exactly like he talked much about his past to me or my mother" Rodin stated while Makarov finished the rest of the drink, coughing a bit from the burning in his throat.

"There's things about your father that he tended to keep to himself, despite being part of a family like Fairy Tail, he led a private life that I wish he told us at least once," He added before sighing with a hint of sadness in his voice, making Rodin look at the old man with empathy by what he was feeling inside. The Master shook off the sadness before looking to the trunk that Rodin had placed on the floor when he first entered, "Is this what Adrian wanted you to deliver?".

"Uh yeah, though it's locked pretty tight, I can't even get it to open for some reason..." Rodin replied and was shocked when he saw the master put his hand on the box, causing a sudden glow to emerge that everyone in the guild could see, making some of them go closer to the duo, until the light eventually faded and the seal that was on the trunk was now released, causing to open fully and show it's contents.

Rodin stared at the inside the trunk, looking at all the different objects his father had stored inside, including pictures, old trinkets that were wrapped up in cloth, and a large leather loose jacket that looked around Rodin's size. Feeling drawn by that particular clothing, he took off the cloak he had on, reveal his full outfit consisting of a tight black shirt with some deep scars that were down his arms, fitting pants that seemed loose from the leggings, and comfortable shoes that showed to be brown. Grabbing the jacket in front of him, he saw that it had a note in the pocket that when he opened it stated, _To Rodin_, guessing that his father meant for him to have it. He placed the jacket on, feeling it fit almost perfectly and giving him a completed outfit, making even some of the girls in the guild look at him with a hint of lust. While he did that, Makarov opened the letter Mira had given to him, finishing it and sighing in sadness.

"That fool, always trying to do too much." Makarov mumbled to himself, putting the letter away in his coat, and clearing his throat before turning over to Rodin with a serious look on his face. "I thank you for delivering this to me Rodin, I'm sure if you're father was still alive, he'd be happy to know that you honored his last wishes" Makarov stated with pride, making Rodin feel a sense of relief that he hadn't felt in years, wishing that it wouldn't go away again.

"So, what was on the letter he wrote you?" He asked with a curious tone in his voice.

"Well, aside from revealing quite a bit of information he thought best to keep secret until a certain time, there was a request on here he wanted me to honor when you made it to the guild and delivered the trunk safely. However, I won't force the decision on you if you don't want it..." He remarked in a serious tone, confusing the slayer. "Your father's request is, that you be allowed to join the Fairy Tail Guild".

* * *

_**And that's where we'll be stopping for today, my fingers are killing me and I'm already tired from writing two whole chapters in one day, please excuse any errors that you may see on here. I want to add that I will be adding on different variations of idea's from different series, if anyone is confused by what they are, please let me know and I will be sure to clarify it for you. As always, leave any comments or advice, and till next time on Chapter 3: The Newest Member. Chapter has been reedited thanks to the help of LastComet and **__**BananaManiaBubblegum for helping, please check out their work when you have the time folks.**_


	3. The Newest Member

**Chapter 3**

**The Newest Member**

* * *

_**Fairy Tail Guild**_

Many of the guild-mates stopped what they were doing, looking over to the table where the Guild Master and the young man that entered was, all of them having looks of shock on their faces by what their leader had just said. Some wondered what the connection was between Makarov and Rodin, while others were thinking that it was some kind of trick to get him into the guild. Ultimately, they didn't know what to do at that time and decided to see what would happen, including Mira and Cana, who came towards the table the two of them were at and sat down on the sides to become part of the conversation.

"Master, I'm not one to try and question what you decide, but we don't a damn thing about this this guy much less his old man, for all we know it could all be a lie" Cana proposed to Makarov, trying to get to the bottom of what this really was about. Makarov surprised her by chuckling at her remark, making Mira look at him with confusion before seeing him use his **Titan** to stretch his arm to the open trunk, digging through until he found what he was looking for. Pulling his arm back, people around him noticed it was a small painting of sorts, but was covered in dust, which the Master got rid of by blowing on it and wiping the rest off.

In the painting, it depicted a group of people standing in front of Fairy Tail's newly constructed guild-hall in the city, which was dictated by the balloons and sign on the top that read _Welcome to your new guild_. Standing in the middle of the crowd was Makarov at sixty-eight years old, smiling proudly with his staff in hand, and next to him were two young men around their mid-twenties with smiles on their faces. The one on the right was **Gildarts Clive**, Fairy Tail's **Guild Ace**, who showed to have an impressive body built at the time, also appearing to showing to have little to no facial hair on his face and his brown hair spiked upwards. His attire consisted of a long, black, high-collared and tattered cloak with shoulder plates; around his waist was a simple belt, keeping a loose-fitting dark pants on. And completed the outfit with a armored waist-guard bearing plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple boots, and a black shirt underneath.

On the left side of Makarov was a man Rodin knew well, it was his father, **Adrian Clark**, who was a bit smaller in height than the Guild-Ace, and had a more serious look on his face, similar to how his son would look normally. His attire consisted of what appeared to be the black jacket that Rodin was now wearing, covering a white muscle shirt and a fairy tail symbol on the front. Similar to Gildarts, he showed to be wearing a pair of loose-fitting dark pants, but instead of boots, he had on athletic shoes on for better maneuverability in a fight. The one thing that stood out from him was that he was wearing a silver-coated headband around his forehead.

"The young man standing next to me was a man named Adrian Clark, a powerful **Earth Mage **and father to Rodin here, he was not only a member of Fairy Tail, but was one of the most ingenious and creative mages of his generation. Though with this reveal, I'm surprised to admit that he was officially the First Dragon Slayer to have joined Fairy Tail," Makarov divulged to the mages around him, secretly feeling betrayed by the former mage for being lied to since he first joined the guild. "He and our Guild-Ace, Gildarts, were considered to be the terrible twosome of Fairy Tail, no matter where they went, destruction followed and with that more bills I had to pay" Makarov groaned when he recalled all the complaints he received to daily when those two decided to go around town and mess around. He recalled one particular event the two got involved in that actually made him miss the old days.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Magnolia**_

_**Town Square**_

_The shining sun was high in the sky, beaming down its warmth onto the crowds of people walking about on the streets without a care in the world while going about their normal routines. However, some of the people saw what appeared to be a crowd being formed around one of the town's local taverns and seeing what appeared to be rune knights standing in front of the now broken down windows, politely asking people to go about their business. The sounds of a stick clicking against the floor made many turn around to see who was doing that, all of them gaining a look of shocks on their faces when coming face to face with the person._

_A younger semi-old looking Makarov had arrived on the scene, wearing his Wizard Saints cloak, having being messaged by the rune knights to arrive at the tavern to settle an issue between some trouble makers and two of his own guild-mates. He thanked the rune knights and dismissed them, telling them to send the bill of the damages to the Fairy Tail guild, moving past them and entering to see the inside of the bar. The entire area was in ruins with most of the bottles behind the bar counter being shattered to pieces, the stools all broken off from their spots, and the floors uprooted with the walls having large open holes all around. _

_"So then, who'd like to make the excuse this for what happened to this place This time!?" Makarov begrudgingly asked, looking at the source of the entire __dilemma__, which was revealed to be Adrian Clark and Gildarts Clive, both of whom had bandages that covered their face, one arm, and a leg. The duo looked up to Makarov, both of them having a look of guilt for what they had done, but keeping silent in hope saying nothing would make things less harmful to their health. However, that was not the case with Makarov, who knew both would not say a word about it, smiling evilly at them, "Oh yes, this is going to be fun..." He bluntly stated before raising his staff up high, sending it forward to the duo at an incredible speed._

_"OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!" The sound of a brutal smack and the yells of pain was all that could be heard in the distance on that day, some thinking about what person would be cruel enough to hurt someone like that__. The people on scene at the tavern looked in pity at what they saw coming out of that tavern: both of the men being dragged by their collars by the master of Fairy Tail, both also having bumps on their heads the size of watermelons along with bleeding that followed too._

_Makarov only continued to fume at the duo, wishing that they would just grow up and act their age, but secretly feeling a small sense of pride for them, realizing that they were the future of Fairy Tail, and that one day one of them would take his place as the next Guild-Master._

* * *

**_Present_**

A small part of Makarov missed the foolishness that both of the mages had brought into his life, even though he had his own son Ivan, in a way he saw both Gildarts and Adrian as his own flesh and blood, missing the times that were only memories now. The reminiscing caused a small tear to drop from the side, one most didn't notice due to him quickly wiping it off and getting himself together. He cleared his throat before turning his attention to the mages sitting at the table, especially Rodin.

"Wait, if that's the case, how come we never saw him when some of us first joined Fairy Tail?" Mira remarked with confusion, making the Master look at her and sigh in frustration before turning his attention back to Rodin, who also had a look of curiosity at what the reason was too.

"He and Gildarts were best of friends, but were totally opposites in almost every way, while Gildarts didn't show to have any full ambitions in his youth, Adrian had a far-more greater sense of responsibility and felt that he could do more for people by becoming part of the Magic Council. He left Fairy Tail before a Guild-ace could be chosen, leaving Gildarts to became it. However, it was the last time anyone ever saw him," Makarov explained with sense of despair.

Rodin could not believe what he was hearing, all this time he didn't see his father was due to the fact he wanted to play Hero_? _The realization of that statement made him run his hands through his hair, trying to get some sense of understanding to why he would do this, but couldn't find any, leaving him with more frustrated about it than anyone else.

"Well, it fills the holes of everything about him and why he was always gone at times, but why ask me to deliver this here of all places?" Rodin questioned, looking back to Makarov, who displayed the envelope that was inside the trunk. Rodin attempted to grab it, but Makarov moved it away, making the stone slayer look at him with a scowl on his face for denying him the right to see what was inside of it.

"I'm sorry Rodin, but your father made it clear that I would tell only you bits and pieces of what he wanted for you when the time came, until then.." Makarov's arm lit on fire, turning the envelope into ash and blowing it away. "Now, after listening to everything and learning about where you're own father came from, do you wish to join up with us? He asked once more, causing the atmosphere in the room to thicken with tension, leaving Rodin with a moment to think and process everything that went through his mind.

In his mind, Rodin couldn't make heads or tails on how to feel at the moment, especially considering he's never been the type to be a part of anything, or rather not be allowed to join anything since nobody liked him as a child. Looking at everyone that was staring at him started giving him one of his known gut feelings. Something was telling him that it staying was the right call for him to stay, like he was meant to be part of Fairy Tail and that it would be great for not just him, but for his partner Trixie too. For the first time since his parents deaths and his grandmother's disappearance, he smiled with joy, looking to the Guild-Master with excitement in his eyes. "I'm in".

Makarov found himself reliving the same moment over in his mind, only it was when Rodin's father decided to join, allowing him to visualize the same look that he had, making him confident that Rodin would go far, maybe even further than his father did. "My children, I'd like you all to meet the newest member of Fairy Tail, Rodin Clark." The Guild Master announced to the entire guild-hall, causing everyone to suddenly went from tense to excited towards Rodin, cheering loudly with Makarov telling Mira to get them a round of drinks for this joyous occasion. A party began in Fairy Tail that day, with many of the mages to go towards Rodin, each one introducing themselves and telling him how it was a pleasure to meet him. For that first time in years, Rodin regained a sense of pride and comfort, happily knowing that he now had a place he could call home no matter what would happen.

"Oh Master," Rodin remarked, looking to Makarov, who grabbed one of the mugs that Mira was passing around in trays before turning back to Rodin. "I forgot to mention that I wasn't traveling alone, I'm here with..."

As if right on cue, the doors slammed open with forcefulness, causing many of the members to look back to notice a flying white and brown feline at the doorway, wearing miniature clothes and having a scowl on her face while floating in mid-air and trying to find her partner, seeing him sitting down on one of the tables close by and going towards him in annoyance.

"Geez," she grunted in annoyance, rubbing her ear when she heard the loud yelling of the party from right outside the door, "People weren't kidding, Fairy tail has to be the loudest Guild in the entire Earth-Land, I swear you could wake the dead if you wanted to-" Her speech was interrupted when she noticed everyone giving her a shocked look, including Mira, Cana, and Makarov himself.

"Trixie, how many times do I have to tell you, there's no reason to have to go all primal on the doors" Rodin criticized at her, causing Trixie to glare back at Rodin, making her eyes turn from normal cat eyes to angry ones, summoning her aura and give off a menacingly atmosphere. She remembered where she was and slowly started calming down, taking deep breaths until the aura around her dissipated, leaving her back in her normal state once more.

"She calmed down so quickly?!" The guild yelled comically, making her aura resurface with more rage, causing everyone to run back to the spots with Rodin chuckling nervously, bowing to Makarov and apologizing for his partner's behavior.

"I assume this is the partner?" Makarov asked looking at her with surprise, making her huff in annoyance before being elbowed by Rodin.

"Yes unfortunately, this is my partner Trixie and well we've been together since we first met" He remarked, rubbing her head softly with his hand, causing her to blush at the action and bow respectfully to the Master. "I know she can be a bit of a handful and has an anger problem, but I'm hoping she can join Fairy Tail too, we're practically family and I wouldn't feel good without her," Rodin declared with a serious tone, making Makatov understand where he was coming from.

"The more the merrier, though I am just very surprised to see another creature like her, I thought one of our members was the only one" Makarov explained, causing the two of them looked at him with shock at his comment, especially Trixie, who jumped from her seat and stood right in front of the master.

"Wait, what do you mean by "another one"? I'm the only one of my kind as far as I know of," Trixie assured the Master, but stopped when Mira came back with some more beer, looking towards the small feline.

"Actually, one of our more hot-headed members found an egg back when he was younger, he took care of it for a while, and it hatched into a little cat with wings like you, we named him Happy" Mira explained to Trixie, making her simply fell back on her butt, trying to soak in what she had just heard them say. Her train of thought was interrupted when Rodin softly scratched her head, making her look at him and see the comforting smile on his face.

"Been a shocking day for both of us, but I get the feeling things will get better after a while," Rodin confessed to her, making Trixie nod in agreement with her partner, both now looking to Mira when she grabbed something on the tray she was carrying. It showed to be a large stamp of the Fairy Tail emblem, a magic one that allowed anyone to brand themselves with the emblem in any color they want.

"Since you two are now the new members of this guild, you'll be officially recognized by wearing the mark of Fairy Tail, just tell me where you want it to be put on," Mira explained before taking the object in her free hand. Rodin moved his jacket sleeve up his his left arm, pointing towards his forearm and asking for brown. She then pressed the stamp down hard, holding it for a few seconds before a bright light and bubbles emerged when she removed it, showing a brown emblem now embedded on his arm. For Trixie, she turned to Mira and exposed her belly a little, wanting her mark to go on there and in purple, making the bartender repeat the process and now showed a purple mark on the left side of her stomach.

"Those marks are the pride of Fairy Tail, live up to that pride and never forget it" Makarov declared with seriousness, making the two nodded in agreement before he got off the table, taking the truck with him back to his office, but not before he grabbed another object from the inside and throwing it to him. "One more thing, your father left an apartment for you not too far from the guild, said in his letter he'd want you to live in it if you decided to join" he remarked before heading back to his office with the trunk in tow.

"Well welcome to Fairy Tail, I just know you two are gonna make a great addition to it" Mira cheerfully spoke, smiling and heading back to the bar, leaving the duo to look at their new marks with excitement in their eyes.

"Are we sure about this? I mean it's not like the request was to actually join up with them, just to deliver the dumb trunk and go on with our lives," Trixie reminded Rodin, still looking at the mark he now on now, feeling a sense of pride that he and his partner were part of a guild, especially one that was very compassionate than the others that asked them to join.

"Rodin?".

"Things happen for a reason Trixie, whether we want to believe in it or not, fate has a plan for us and I wanna see what being part of something can actually feel like" Rodin replied with confidence in his voice, making his partner shook her head with annoyance, but smiled nonetheless, knowing it was better to just roll with it than try to talk him out of it. "Meanwhile, Mira, so where exactly is this other cat you said was part of the guild?".

"He and his partners went off on an unauthorized S-class mission that they took a day ago, but with two others going after them, they should be back in about two days" Mira replied from behind the bar counter, leaving Trixie to sigh in annoyance by the news, but figured it'd be best to wait for now.

"So cutie," Cana slurred from the floor after drinking down another barrel when Makarov finished his story, "What exactly is your special talent?".

"Uh..Well, like my dad, I'm a Dragon Slayer too, though my grandma was the one who taught me it, she also taught my old man apparently" Rodin replied, which caused Cana and Mira stopped what they were doing to look back at him with shock. "Did I say something wrong?".

"So wait, you originally learned from a dragon?" Mira remarked, going back to them to hear what they were saying.

"Technically yes, my old man left when I was about four, so it was just me and my grandma, and she decided to train me in it too," Rodin explained, making Mira and Cana both looking in awe.

"Huh, guess that hot-head isn't a total liar after all," A voice remarked to Rodin's statement, making the slayer turn to see a man with purple hair and a stubble around his jawline, along with another man next to him with a smoke pipe in his mouth and a pompador hairstyle, taking a seat next to Cana.

"The name's Macao Conbolt, my partner Wakaba Mine" Macao introduced himself with Wakaba nodded before Rodin shook both of their hands.

"Rodin Clark, my partner Trixie. So wait, what did you mean by "Natsu not being a total liar"?" He asked with a bit of confusion in his voice.

"Basically one of our members, hot head by the name of Natsu Dragneel, joined Fairy Tail when he was younger and often told us about how his father was a dragon and trained him to kill dragons. Most of us just called on his crap, but if you're saying the same thing, maybe there's gotta be some truth after all," Wakaba concluded, puffing out some smoke, making Rodin be thankful that his sense of smell wasn't like most other Dragon Slayers.

"I see... Natsu Dragneel" Rodin muttered under his breath before talking a bit more with the two men, unaware that Makarov was near the window of his office, looking specifically at Rodin who was starting to laugh with everyone else joining in. In his heart, he felt guilty that the boy was manipulated by his father, due to what he read, but knew that some aspects of what he mentioned was true. Knowing that Rodin would hate not just his father, but himself, Makarov decided to take the secrets he was told by Adrian to his grave, realizing it was better to keep some knowledge buried for good. However, he felt a sense of foreboding, feeling like something bad was about to happen to Fairy Tail, something that would be the starting point for the many months to follow.

* * *

_**Oak Town Outskirts**_

_**Phantom Lord Guild**_

In a dark room lit only by candle light, sat two figures in the middle with what appeared to be two large sacks on the table, opened to reveal large stacks of jewels that summed up to about one million. The light of the candle flicked, revealing one of the men that was in the shadows, a business man with a brown suit and red tie while also having brownish-blond hair and a small mustache that matched with the color of his suit.

"Here is the first part of the payment, I expect the conditions to be met properly Master Jose, or else I will not deliver the full bonus for the completion of the request," The man demanded, leaving the second figure to stretch his hands at the bags in front of him, grabbing the money and putting it on the floor that caused a third figure to emerge from the side to grab them and move back into the darkness.

"But of course Mr. Heartfilia, we of Phantom Lord always make sure to follow the request down to the letter: Your daughter will be delivered back home safe and sound" He assured him with a venomous tone that made the man shiver with fear, causing small drops of sweat to roll down his face, making him grab a handkerchief with the insignia of _J.H_.

"Just make sure it's done," The man demanded before getting up and walking out as another figure appeared in the room, walking up to the man as the candle light revealed to be a woman with her black hair in a pony-tail, her eyes being show to have heterochromia iridium with one color black and the other bright red, and showed to be very endowed in her chest area.

"What the rich won't spend to keep their wealth flowing, it's truly a pathetic sight to see such a man tremble, wouldn't you agree Angela, my lovely daughter?" He divulged with a wicked smile, leaving her to simply looked away instead of replying at his response. "Aw well, I couldn't care less about the money, but at last we finally get the chance to crush Fairy Tail once and for all!" Jose declared, going back to his chair, leaving Angela to bow in respect and walk downstairs to where the main-hall was at.

The chattering could be heard through the area, echoing sounds of mugs clashing together resonated while the sounds of hearty laughter followed, all of this grim and muck made the Angela's skin crawl the more she passed through the individual people. She stopped however when she reached someone, only hearing the sounds of what appeared to be iron falling onto a plate, and stopping when the individual saw that she was standing in front of him.

"The Master's looking for you." She proclaimed, making the light reveal an evil grin on the shadow's face, excited about the aspect of getting to go on another mission to bring chaos to everyone.

* * *

_**Crazy plot twists left and right, and for those who are lost, I am starting this story off based on the Phantom Lord Arc, only I'm adding my own little twists that's not shown on either the manga or anime. As I said in the first chapter, there will be new characters of mine I will be adding so hope you guys enjoy them. Meanwhile hope you guys are enjoying the chapters, I plan on trying to send them out least once every two weeks so I can get a rhythm of it going, and as always, leave a comment and I'll see you all next time on Chapter 4: Rodin vs Elfman. Reedited chapter thanks to LastComet and **__**BananaManiaBubblegum**__**. **_


	4. Rodin vs Elfman

**Chapter 4**

**Rodin vs Elfman**

* * *

**_Magnolia Inn_**

The night sky shined brightly with its gallery of stars in the sky, giving a sense of tranquility in the air with many of the residents who had gone home for the evening, enjoying dinner with their families or friends. The streets became more and more desolate, leaving only the flickering of the lanterns that were still lit there, giving the illumination to those who were still out late or hadn't arrived home yet. Two figures were seen walking towards the center of town with one lantern's glow casting on them, revealing Rodin and Trixie, who had spent the entire day at the guild after officially joining it earlier in the day. They were getting used to how Fairy Tail was and met some of the interesting people there too, including teams like **Shadowgear**, which consisted of **Levy McGarden** and her two partners, **Jet** and **Droy**, showing them around the guild-hall and pointing out where everything was. A few others they met included **Romeo Conbolt**, **Loke**, **Reedus Jonah**, **Max Alors**, **Laki Olietta**, **Alzack**, and **Bisca**. After spending much of their time partying with their new friends, they both decided to head back to the inn the two were in, entering and heading towards their room.

The stone-slayer opened the door to their room, causing his feline partner to quickly fly through without hesitation, landing on her bed with joy expressed on her face when she put her head against the soft pillow.

"Man, they're probably the wackiest guild we've seen," Trixie remarked, sighing in bliss and turned to lie on her back.

"True, though some of them seem pretty interesting, and it looks like a few have taken a liking to you, huh Trixie?" Rodin replied teasingly, taking off his jacket and ignored the irritated look Trixie was giving him. "Either way, I'm just glad we've finally got a place to stay instead of just heading out on the road again, can't say I'll miss the camping".

"Aw, you're not gonna miss sleeping under the stars and lying down on the rocky floor of the ground with the bugs?" Trixie replied with the same tone Rodin did to her, causing him to react by throwing a pebble he got from his pocket, flicking it at her in an attempt to shut her up, but she comically dodged them and huffed in amusement. "Still...It is nice to be with people who care about us, I just hope it doesn't end up being a mistake".

Rodin nodded at her remark while walking towards the window to see the lanterns on the streets turn off one-by-one, "You and me both Trixie, you and me both," the stone-slayer smiled at the hope his feline partner had, turning to say something else, but found her already passed out asleep and snoring softly. He chuckled, guessing that the party and walking got the best of her, then grabbed her special blanket from their bag, covering the feline with it and saw her cuddle under it right away.

_"This is probably the first time I've ever seen her look so peaceful" _Rodin thought to himself before going to the bathroom to get his first decent shower in months, leaving the feline to enjoy her first good sleep in weeks.

Entering the bathroom, the stone-slayer began taking off the clothes he currently had on, stripping down his remaining clothes until he was nude and moved his hands towards the knobs, turning on the water to fill up the bath. After a few adjustments to the right temperature, he entered the tub and sank into the bath, feeling the warm water soothing every sore muscle on his body. After a few seconds of soaking, he grabbed a small pan that the inn provided, filling it with water before pouring it on his head, feeling all the dry bits of dirt and dust wash off from his entire body. After finishing his bath, Rodin grabbed a towel he placed on the sink counter, drying himself off before heading back to the room, going towards his bag to grab his sleeping attire. He pulled out a white tight muscle, a pair of blue boxers, and his loose black shorts to put on.

Putting on the outfit, he pulled back the blanket on his bed and slide under them, pulling up to his necklace before Rodin put his hands behind his head and looked up to the ceiling. The stone-slayer found himself thinking about the people he met in the guild, remembering their cheerful faces while they enjoyed the party that was thrown for him and Trixie, making him reminisce about how things were when he was a kid. He closed his eyes with that thought in mind, slowly drifting to sleep and going back to the time when he was just five years old.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

**_14 years ago_**

**_Hinder Town_**

**_X770_**

_"Catch me if you can!" The voice of five-year old **Rodin Clark** yelled out while dashing through the forest, moving through piles of leaves that fell from the trees around him, filling his heart with joy. His feet took him further in until he reached a clearing, stopping there and began to breath heavily with sweat dropping down from his face, confident that the friends he was playing with wouldn't be able to find him now. The child turned towards the path he came from, waiting for them to rush through but saw that no one was coming, even though he knew two of his new friends were faster than him, making him wonder where they were. After almost ten minutes, he decided to head back in, going towards where they first started their game to making sure none of them had been hurt or were in danger.  
_

_However, after he found the spot where they first started, the boy overheard the sounds of laughter coming from there and peeked through the bushes to see the three kids, two males and one female, he was playing with just laughing and talking like normal._

_"Ha, can you believe what a sucker that freak was?" One boy mocked._

_"I know right? Can't believe he easily bought us wanting to play with him, he's probably alone and crying like a little baby," The other boy proclaimed, mimicking the action they thought Rodin was taking, making all three laugh hysterically. _

_"What a stupid freak!" The girl giggled but stopped when the sounds of rustling leaves were heard by them, making the three look in the direction of where they thought someone was looking at them, but not able to see who it was._

_For almost an entire mile, the young boy ran through the forest with his eyes covered in shadow, only showing a trail of tears that was going down his face after hearing everything that they told him. On instinct, his first response was to just run home and cry in his room, which resulted in his body taking him right to his own house, but made him trip over and fall flat on his face when he reached his backyard. He whimpered in sobs, getting off the ground and wiping the mud that got smeared on his face._

_"What is wrong my dear, why do you cry?" A booming feminine voice echoed from the cave close by, making Rodin look right at the opening, seeing a figure making it's way out and into the light, revealing a creature made of stone walking out of it, Terrageneis. The light from the sun revealed the appearance of the beast: A dragon who's back had jagged rocks all across her back, while her underbelly was shown in a lighter color, but rough to the touch. The stones on her face was arranged in a linear fashion around her semi-dark circular eyes, while her feet showed to have sharpened talons that appeared stone-like on all her feet. Although her wings were tucked away, they were shown to have been covered with rocks, except for the skin on the ends. _

_Rodin saw her and began crying once more, rushing towards her when she stopped and hugged her front foot, making the stone dragon look down with sadness expressed on her face, gently comforting the boy and beginning to hum a lullaby she often sang to him as a baby. Eventually the young boy stopped crying and looked up to the dragon, his face now shaded red and filled with sadness. _

_"Am I a freak Grandma?" The young Rodin asked with worry in his voice, making her look at him with shock, "Every kid in town always makes fun of me, plays horrible pranks on me, even after I tell them I can do magic. Why do they hate me?"._

_"Rodin, you are a special boy who was blessed with amazing abilities, even your own father didn't have such an affinity for this like you do and I raised him from when he was a baby" She replied and opened her palm to allow Rodin to get on, allowing the dragon to lift her grandson onto her head and walking into her cave. "There will always be those who don't understand or don't like you, but I know that you have a good heart, and no matter how much people may say things to hurt you, I know you will always do what's right. So no Rodin, you're not a freak, you are my grandson and special to those who love you"._

_Her remark reached Rodin, making him smile and hug her from where he was sitting,"Thank you grandma, I know I'm not like dad, but I wanna get better with my magic, I really do" Rodin confessed, seeing the inside of the cave be three times the size of even the dragon herself. She stopped walking, allowing Rodin to slide down off of her and land on the ground, still amazed at how big his grandmother's cave really was. He saw her moving towards a spot not far from here, lying down and beckoning Rodin to come towards her while she stabbed the ground, causing multiple spike pillars to emerge from the ground._

_"Now Rodin, you may be my grandson, but any relative of Terrageneis must be strong both physically and mentally, learning to endure anything that gets thrown at them, becoming immovable like the mountains themselves to defeat our enemies. Tensity is the way of the stone dragons and soon enough, it will be your way too," Terrageneis assured the boy with a proud grin on her face._

_Her grandson looked with pride in his grandmother's words, taking his fighting stance and going on the offensive, resuming his training to harden his body to endure pain and not feel anything when he strikes. The more he punched through each pillar, working through the pain to break it, the more he felt like nothing could be stop him, putting all his attention towards that one task._

* * *

**_Present_**

Rodin's eyes suddenly opened when the clock chimed for the morning, finding himself acting out the dream he was just having, both arms in fists and punching the air due to him lying down. He realized what was going on and sighed in sadness before standing up to sit on the edge of the bed, "Just another dream...Been a while since I've had that one though..." He muttered t to himself before standing up and yawning, stretching his arms over his head to wake himself up and turning to the window to look out at the people passing buy this morning.

"Good Morning, did you sleep okay?" A voice asked, making the stone-slayer turn to see his partner awake, still wearing her pajamas and pushing in a tray of food towards the table in their room. She grabbed the pitcher from the tray, floating over to the cup on the table and poured some orange juice for Rodin "I went ahead and got you some food from the hotel restaurant, figured if we got to eat fancy, we might as well have it on fancy settings" She insisted, putting the two plates on the table now, lifting the dish covers to reveal a stack of pancakes, one having miniature rocks on top alongside some toast and eggs with two strips of bacon while the other was a bowl of watermelon chunks for herself.

"Trixie, how the heck can we afford something like this?" Rodin wondered with a tone of confusion and worry, knowing his partner not being the best person to control her own temper.

"Oh relax, all I said to them was that we deserved a nice meal, plus it helps that I insisted," She replied with a devilish smile and an evil aura that followed, making Rodin look at her with horror and praying that the chefs were okay.

_"Oh great, now we've gotta check out today and sleep in the damn forest again" _He thought in his mind, walking to the table and sitting down with Trixie mimicking his action, but instead grabbed a fork and began drooling over the bowl in front of her, making her eyes twinkle comically. "You know that's sugar right, it'll make you a little bit chunky if you keep eating it everyday".

"Hmph, it's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend, criticizing what a lady eats and mocking her weight," Trixie replied condescendingly, using her fork to stab into the biggest piece first and eat it all in one bite, having some of the juices from the fruit come out of her mouth.

"Oh yeah, like you're a proper lady..." He muttered under his voice, feeling something heavy smack his face and knocking him down with the chair, his eyes swirling in a daze along with a bump that started to bleed. His partner huffed in amusement, enjoying the rest of her breakfast and feeling like today was going to be a great day. After the duo finished their breakfast, they got dressed in their normal clothes and packed up their stuff, knowing that after they got a job to earn some money, they'd have to leave immediately to avoid the manager. Locking their door, they walked out of the in, heading to Fairy Tail to partake in their first official mission under their banner.

* * *

**_Fairy Tail Guild_**

"Ouch, that must sting," Mira mentioned when she saw the duo enter through the large doors, seeing Rodin with a bandaged wrapped around his forehead to stop the bleeding and cover the bump inflicted by his feline companion. They sat down at the counter, waiting for Mira to finish her cleaning and glared at each other, causing electricity to collide comically due to the irritation they had for one another. After finishing her cleaning, Mira grabbed two mugs close by to fill them, setting them down in front of the duo to see them both drink it faster, making her chuckle nervously.

"Let's just say a certain feline decided I needed to read more" He replied to her in annoyance, causing Mira to giggle at the relationship the two of them had, making her nostalgic about someone and pictured a certain white-haired girl who often argued with a white-haired male at times.

"So, what's the plan for today you two?" She wondered while grabbing the two mugs and putting them in the sink to start washing the dirty dishes.

"Well, since Someone didn't appreciate the kind gesture I did, which resulted in us pretty much left with no jewels and having to leave the inn, I suppose we'll have to take a job request to get some money," Trixie acknowledged, turning her head over to see the message board and noticed there was a tanned male standing there in a peculiar outfit.

"Wait, wasn't here there yesterday as well?" Rodin pondered, wondering why the person still hadn't picked a job yet.

"Oh yes, that is **Nab Lasaro**, don't mind him, he usually just stands there from day to day and stares at the board but never really picks a job at times" The bartender advised, causing the man to turn his head in annoyance and yell out comically.

"It's not that! I just haven't found the right one for me!" The man remarked, making the trio laugh at his response.

"Well looks like that's our way of making some money, looking over some of the jobs might actually let us find something that pays well," Rodin admitted to Mira, getting up from the bar-counter and walking through the tables that were in front of him. Unknowingly, Rodin accidentally bumped right into one of the them, causing one of the people's drinks to back splash onto his face and down the man's clothes.

"Oh shoot, sorry about that," Rodin apologized, moving away from the table he bumped and kept moving forward. However, before he got close to the job board, something grabbed the back of his jacket, pulling him back and making him stop in front of the person who's drink was spilled.

"Hey, you didn't apologize to my face or even offer me another drink, a real man pays for his mistakes," A deep voice proclaimed, making Rodin see that the person was overshadowed by a very tall and tanned male with white wild spiky hair, a stitched scar running down from his right eye, and was wearing what showed to be a dark blue jacket with purplish blue inners. "So new guy, are you gonna be a real man and pay your due's?"

"Look, I'm sorry for spilling your drink, but I'm not exactly loaded with cash right now, so I can't really do anything about it" Rodin replied, making the man scoff at his excuse before hearing someone call out his name.

"Elfman, stop it, I'll just give you another drink-" Mira began, but got interrupted when Cana came out of nowhere with a barrel in hand and walked up to the two, smiling before taking another drink.

"Oh boy! Looks like we got a fun challenge people, new guy vs Elfman!" The drunk shouted while intoxicated, making everyone look towards the two males and cheer on, yelling fight repeatedly to get everyone in the mood.

"Now that sounds like a challenge real men accept , how bout it new guy? Are you a real man?" Elfman questioned with a grin on his face, cracking his knuckles and neck and waited for Rodin's answer.

Rodin looked around at his predicament and caught the eyes of Trixie, who was snickering at was occurring and winked at him to further taunt her partner, making him irritated and needing an outlet. "You know what? Fine with me, let's see what you got, little boy," he mocked, making everyone in the guild roar out in cheer, following the duo outside to their area, leaving Trixie and Mira to follow and hope that the fight wouldn't destroy the guild in the process.

* * *

**_Fairy Tail_**

**_Backyard_**

Behind the building of Fairy Tail was a large open area, mainly empty space that had different construction tools and bags of cement due to being under construction in hopes of extending their guild-hall further back, but it was now filled with every current member of Fairy Tail in a large circle. Cheering loudly at the two men inside of it, getting ready to fight and settle their disputes. On the outside of the circle, many of the guild-mates were going towards Cana, who had a large basket next to her and a chalkboard, taking bets from everyone on who would win with many betting on Elfman while only one person betting on Rodin.

"This is gonna be fun, especially if Elfman wins this," Cana slurred with excitement before she took another's bet and marked it on the chalk-board next to her.

"Ugh Cana, I swear she can cause such a ruckus, and Rodin of all people actually excepting to win is even more surprising," Mira confessed to Trixie, who was sitting down on the ground and fixing the bow on her ear before looking up to reply to the bartender.

"Rodin usually doesn't prefer to fight if he can help it, but my guess is with so many people around him, plus the fact I kept egging him on, he'd accept and fight to let out the street," She declared with an evil grin on her face, causing Mira to look down at the feline with a bit of comical shock on her face, remembering never to get on her bad side ever.

Some of the people began breaking the ring, allowing the Guild-Master to go through them and stop in between them, making Mira and Trixie sigh with relief that he would stop the match before things got to far. However, when he cleared his throat and was about to speak, that idea flew right out the window.

"Let's get the party started already!" He yelled out with a goofy smile on his face, making everyone cheer out, except for Mira and Trixie who had a look of annoyance with what the master said to them. "Alright you two, fight with all you got and give it your all, if things get too wild, I'll stop the battle so keep some control and don't ruin the guild-hall, got it?!".

Both nodded in agreement with what Makarov said, causing him to move back a good distance to make sure he wouldn't get in the way, and raised his stick high in the air. Everyone waited in anticipation, especially Cana, who even stopped drinking her barrel to see how this would go the fight would go down. A silence overtook the area as the wind blew by gently, giving the sense of tension in the air, like if someone was awaiting the answer to an important question until Makarov finally moved his stick downward.

"BEGIN!"

"MAN!" Elfman roared out, charging forward to his opponent and charged his magic energy around his right arm, making it glow and begin to pixelate.

"**Beast Soul: Reptile!**"

The Take-over mage's arm was now replaced by a reptile arm, shown to look like a brown gauntlet-like arm with sharp claws and green reptilian scales that started from his shoulder and ended at his elbow, twice the size of his original arm and having black spikes run down the forearm to his shoulder. Rodin saw the change and was surprised by the appearance, bringing up his arms to block the attack, taking the impact and skidding backwards, shocking some of the people since they knew his power could send an entire group of people flying with one shot.

The stone-slayer put down his arms down to his sides, smiling to Elfman who also had a surprised look on his face since his attack didn't send Rodin flying, "Take Over huh, I've personally never seen someone use it before and I admit it's impressive, but you'll need more than that to move someone who's immovable like the mountain".

Rodin went on the offensive himself, running forward towards Elfman who swung his arm in an attempt to hit him, but missed his target due to Rodin ducking head down and jump, delivering a roundhouse aimed at his face and landing a blow, making him stagger back from the impact.

_"Damn, his leg right now just felt like it was made of stone" _Elfman thought to himself, wiping the small dribble of blood that came out from his mouth, and refocusing his attention to Rodin, who was now beginning to use his magic by channeling it through one his arm, creating a magic circle around it and transforming it into a sword of stone.

"**Stone Dragon's Sword!**"

The appearance of the sword looked polished and sharp from where it started on his arm, almost mimicking the appearance of an actual blade but had a darker color tone than normal rock. After summoning it, Elfman and Rodin both ran to each other and swung, sending both of their arms and colliding with one another, causing a small gust of wind to blow through the ring, making them all feel the force that the two of them had put behind their swings.

Both were now in a struggle to gain the edge over the other, pushing with their spells in an attempt to win the struggle, which was broken by Rodin, who focused some magic energy to coat his leg and slammed it into the ground, causing the area around the two to shake from the impact of Rodin's kick, making Elfman unbalanced for a second and giving Rodin the chance to break the struggle and swing once more right at him.

However, the take-over mage was prepared for the attack and quickly brought up his partial Take-Over arm to intercept the attack, only this time when the sword slashed, it cut off some of the scales and made his arm bare without any protection. Jumping back to evade another attack, Elfman cancelled his spell and ran again to the stone-slayer, only this time he summoned up a new form for his arm.

"**Beast Soul: Bear!**"

The arm now appeared to take on the appearance of a furry black beast's arm with sharp claws, smaller than the reptile arm he had on before, but appeared to have much bigger muscles. Elfman slammed to the ground, gripping a large piece of the ground, throwing it right at his opponent with all his might to use as a distraction to move in for the attack

Rodin chuckled a bit before he slammed his foot down, giving him a open-legged stance and cancelling his sword and punching the rock head on to break it apart with his own fist, leaving him defenseless against Elfman, who ran behind it to deliver his attack and landed a direct hit on Rodin's face now. The tide of the battle changed when the ring of people gasped at what they were witnessing, including Elfman, at the stone-slayer still standing ever after taking a hit with his arm.

"Here's a little lesson Elfman, never try to use a Stone Dragon Slayer's own element against them, you'll lose," Rodin's voice remarked, revealing a rock from the piece of the stone slab that the white-haired mage sent to him, eating it with Elfman's fist still on his face. After finishing it, a magic circle now emerged from beneath Rodin, causing his body to glow brown and took on a cloak of stone that covered his face and body, except for his clothes.

"**Stone Dragon's Scales!**"

The stone-slayer's apparance drastically changed from looking normal to now appearing like he himself was made of stone, his face covered with what looked like a scale-like pattern that made it look like his body was cracking. Taking advantage of Elfman's pause, Rodin gripped the arm that was still on his cheek, twisting it and rolling Elfman over his shoulder and flung a few feat away.

Getting up from the ground and dusting himself up, both Rodin and Elfman now looked at each other, both of them grinning with excitement now that the fight was getting interesting. They waited for almost a few seconds before running towards each other, colliding and landing blow after blow that dealt significant damage to each of them, all with the roar of the crowd pumping the two of them up.

"**Beast Soul: Iron Bull!**"

Cancelling his new arm after throwing a punch, another arm took it's place and was now one made of pure metal, and knocked one of Rodin's fists to the side and dealt a hit right into the face of the stone-slayer.

Rodin's vision was blinded temporarily by some of the small bits of stone that Elfman managed to break off, resulting in it getting caught in his eyes after the last attack and making it hard to see. The stone-slayer found himself being punched once more and being sent flying that time, quickly getting back on his feet with his eyes still closed. Knowing that he couldn't see anything without first cancelling out his spell, Rodin decided to use a skill he learned from his grandmother, taking a deep breath and calming down. He began to focus his magic, feeling the area around him and waited for Elfman to make the move, which he did by running forward to him once more and giving Rodin his chance to strike.

Elfman slid right beside Rodin, aiming once again for his face, only this time he was caught off guard with Rodin easily dodged the attack with his eyes closed before swinging his other arm right into his side. The attack didn't stop as Rodin kept connecting punches and kicks on him before taking a deep breath to take in some air before stopping, making everyone around him know what was about to come next.

"**Stone Dragon's Roar!**"

The full release of the roar caused an explosion, covering the ring and everyone in it with a dust cloud, making the crowd cover their eyes and cough, waiting for it to settle down to understand what had just happened to the fighters. When it settled, everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Right in front of them was Makarov, who's was stretched in front of Elfman, blocking the roar that would've dealt more damage than originally anticipated, which Rodin could see and cancelled his magic to finally gain some visibility. He was surprised by the giant hand now shrinking, turning to the left to see Makarov standing there, flexing his hand to calm the nerves that the blast shocked.

"Alright boys that's enough, this was only meant to be a sparring match, not a full-fledged battle." Makarov insinuated, making the two look at each other and recognize that the fight was over.

"Wait, what the hell just happened?" One of the guild-mates wondered in confusion

"The Master managed to send his own magic to intercept Rodin's roar, causing that explosion before it even had a chance to hit Elfman, if he hadn't, it would've seriously hurt him" Mira remarked, exhaling a sigh of relief at the outcome of the match. The rest of the guild however felt ripped off, everyone groaning at the result and turning to see Cana already stuffing the money into her bra.

"Oh well, I guess a real man has to accept the decision," Elfman admitted and looked down at Rodin with a look of respect, "You can buy me a drink when you get a job Rodin, you've got guts like a real man".

"Yeah, I'll be sure to remember Elfman," Rodin replied with a smile before bowing in respect to Elfman, who did the same in response, making everyone cheer at the amazing battle that they all just witnessed, even Mira and Trixie showed to be clapping at the two.

"Well, now that you've got your little spat taken care of, I've got a job the two of you can do," Makarov calmly stated, making the two look at him with a comical shudder when they saw an aura of anger surround him, "You two block heads can start fixing the damages you did to this field right now!".

Both yelled out in shock, comically rushing around the area, doing the best they can to fix everything, while the rest of the guild went running back into the guild to hide, leaving only the trio of Makarov, Mira, and Trixie standing and looking on at the two mages trying to fix the mess they did.

"Despite the annoyance that just happened, I must admit Rodin surprised me, I wouldn't have expect him to have such incredible reflexes, even being able to dodge one of Elfman's attacks without opening his eyes," The master remarked in awe.

"Well he may be a stubborn rock-head, but Rodin's learned some very impressive stuff from his teacher, what you saw was a special skill he calls **Stone Sensing**. From what he's told me, he can actually feel the vibrations within the earth itself, allowing him to almost see the person right in front of him without even needing to open his eyes," Trixie replied, making Makarov realize that he had seen this ability before with Rodin's father.

"It's a very useful ability indeed, even Elfman wouldn't be able to hit someone if they can see it coming without looking," Mira admitted, smiling and breaking into laughter along with Trixie and Makarov when they saw the white-haired mage and Rodin now got into another miniature argument that led to them fighting against each other comically. "He has quite a bit of magic inside of him, even I can tell he was holding back during that fight".

"In any case, he's starting to learn the ways of Fairy Tail, he may be a bit more balanced than most of the others, but he's definitely his father's son" Makarov admitted, reaching into his coat pocket to pull a letter and throw to Trixie who caught it and looked confused by what it was. "Inside the letter is the key to an apartment bit far from from Fairy Tail. The two of you will be sharing that apartment without worrying about rent, call it a gift from an old man for a good fight," The Guild-Master proudly stated, looking and thinking that their newest mage would become something more with the years to come. However, Fairy Tail was unaware of a scheme taking place, one that would take the guild over the edge and into a war.

* * *

**_Oak Town_**

**_Phantom Lord Guild_**

The morning sun shined down on the tranquil place of Oaktown, showing small signs of life with people walking around and going to different areas to look for something, some passing through their most iconic building most fear to even get close to: **Phantom Lord**.

Inside, on the the second floor of the guild-hall, the office of Phantom's Guild-Master was filled with six individuals, four of which were hidden by the shadows that Jose adored and two shown in the light to reveal **Angela Porla**, Jose's only daughter and **Gajeel Redfox**, the **Iron Dragon Slayer** of Phantom Lord. After waiting for a few more minutes, the sounds of footsteps came closer to the door, stopping and being replaced by the sound of the door knob turning, opening to reveal the Guild-Master's arrival.

"Ah, my mages, I am so glad the six of you are here," Jose acknowledged, giving a wicked smile to each of them while he made his way to his desk, sitting down with Angela going to his side, pouring a cup of tea and passing it to it. After taking a small sip, Jose set the cup on the floor before he intertwined his hands together, "My **Element 4**, Phantom Lord has been giving a great opportunity yesterday, a request by the head of the one of the richest families to retrieve their daughter".

Murmurs could be heard among the shadowed figures, but were immediately silenced when Jose brought his hand up to them, leaving Gajeel to get annoyed and blurt out his opinion like usual.

"Feh, you called me here just to bore me to tears, or you gonna get down to it?" Gajeel blurted out in annoyance, eating a piece of an iron gear and looking at the master with a bored expression on his face.

"No Dear Gajeel, I called you all here to tell you that all of your power will be needed, especially your's, since this particular " Jose replied to the iron-slayer, standing up and turning around to look outside his window, seeing the other members going about and minding their own business. "Before we can claim the prize, we must lure it out with the right bait, Gajeel and Angela, go to Magnolia and find any members of Fairy Tail. Make them suffer enough and soon, the target will be left vulnerable".

Hearing what their plan was, everyone, except for Gajeel, bowed to their master and left his office, leaving both Angela and Gajeel to walk together down to the main hall and leave the guild-hall, going outside to have the bright light of the sun come down on them, making Angela cover her eyes and try to get them used to the sun's light once more.

"Heh, leave it to the master to send you on this, just do me a favor and butt out," Gajeel boasted, making the woman glare at him with an annoyed look but decided not to retort, knowing full well that she'd have to deal with his annoying self until they got to their destination. After being able to see, the duo began making their way towards their destination: **Magnolia**.

* * *

**_And so we stop on Chapter 4 with a cliff-hanger, aren't I evil? -dramatically laughs-, well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter very much and leave me some feedback. I would like to take this time to thank my Beta-Readers, The Last Comet and _**_**BananaManiaBubblegum, **_**_who has generously offered to look over my upcoming chapters, and help me fix my mistakes. For those who were confused, Stone Sensing is the same concept as Seismic Sensing from Avatar: The Airbender, being able to see the earth around the user. Anyway, Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the Chapter 5: First Job: Ill Omen. This chapter has been updated. _**


	5. First Job: Ill Omen

**Chapter 5**

**_First Job: Ill Omen_**

_**I am sorry for the long waiting in these posts, the Beta I have looking over my work has his own stuff going on, and may not be able to give back the end results right away. However, it does not mean I am giving up on this, I just ask those who are keeping up with this story to be a little patient with me until this is squared away. Until then, please continue to enjoy reading the chapters, and I will be rewriting when I get to chapter 10 to make them look better. Chapter has been reedited.**_

* * *

"Ugh man, I never knew how much dirt could get so annoying after a while," Rodin sighed with exhaustion before sitting down on a table, lifting his arms up and letting them drop to the top of it, feeling like someone tied up two cinder-blocks to them. Elfman on the other hand showed to still be in tip-top shape, easily walking over to where the stone-slayer was, sitting down next to the stone-slayer and patted him on the back with a grin on his face.

"You did a real man's work, so it's only natural to feel some pain, just means that your muscles are gonna get bigger," He told him confidently, making everyone in the guild laughed at the remark, leaving Rodin to chuckle along with them until Mira brought them over the drinks. "We'll call it even Rodin, a real man doesn't hold grudges after all".

"I'll drink to that Elfman," Rodin acknowledged, lifting the mug up with his sore arm, toasting with Elfman before he forced the booze down his throat and waited for the burning sensation, but both anticipations didn't arrive. He tasted another sip and found that there was some dust and pebbles mixed into it, giving the booze a much better flavor for the stone-slayer to enjoy. He looked over to the bar-counter, seeing Trixie give a thumbs up, acknowledging that she recommended Mira to put the extra flavors for him.

"Alright," Rodin began to say while standing up, feeling his muscles heal after drinking the booze, "Let's go see what kind of jobs we can get Trixie, we need a new place to stay after all".

Trixie rolled her eyes at his remark, finishing the watermelon beer that Mira served her and cleaning her face with a napkin before sprouting her wings from her back, floating upward and moving towards her partner, landing on his shoulder and riding on while he got up from the table to walk up to the long board that was close-by. When they walked up the small steps, the duo looked on at the long board in front of them, seeing all kinds of different tasks and requests that people posted for the mages to see, some even paying large sums of jewels for minimal tasks. Looking down an opposite way, Rodin and Trixie looked to see what kind of task would fit them for a first mission as Fairy Tail mages. After a few minutes, Trixie notices a paticular request that stood out, going towards it and taking it off the board, floating to Rodin and handing him the paper to read:

* * *

_**Experience Mages requested to protect important meeting from band of thieves that threaten the security of Duke Marsh and Mayor of Magnolia, bonus will be added if there is no disturbance that causes an interruption in the meeting.**_

**_Location: East Forest_**

**_Reward: 60,000 Jewels + Bonus_**

* * *

"Doesn't this seem a bit out of our league Trixie? I mean we are only newcomers to the guild after all," Rodin questioned the feline, receiving her patent glare and a smack upside the head from her tail, making him growl in annoyance before she took back the paper once more.

"Geez, can you be anymore of a baby, you're focusing on the wrong thing," Trixie replied and pointed towards the sentence that gave the detail of how much the reward would be, "Not only can this give us enough for food, but in addition to the surprise the Master gave me, we'll have money to spend on what we want for once".

Rodin looked at Trixie with utter confusion by what she meant, but going by previous experience with her, he knew it best to just not bother trying to convince her otherwise, and nodded in agreement before the two walked back over the to the bar and passed the piece of paper over to Mira.

"We'll be taking this job Mira," Trixie advised the bartender, who gave a look-over at the job request to see what it was about and after reading it a few times, gave a look of concern and worry towards the duo.

"While I can understand you two being excited about doing this sort of thing, I don't really believe this to be a good first mission to start on, especially since the listing specifies the need for _Experienced Mages_," The bartender admitted, making Trixie's tail flailed in annoyance by her remark. "However, if you two can find others to go along with you, this mission would be all yours".

The duo looked at each other then turned towards the main hall, looking around to see that most of the more experienced mages had already left to do requests on their own and leaving them with not many other options. However, like the light at the end of a tunnel, their luck changed when one individual voiced her services to the two of them.

"Well, we don't have a problem accompanying them on this mission," A petite voice spoke, causing the trio to look back and see the owner of the voice, Levy McGarden and her Team Shadowgear, consisting of her partners Jet and Droy. "I figure it's easier that they be with someone who knows how this works than others that don't have too much experience," Levy admitted, walking up to Mira and grabbing the paper to read what the job request would be.

"Plus, we're in need of a bit extra money so this fits our needs perfectly," Jet added on.

"Mira come on, me and Rodin have done quite a bit of jobs before we even arrived here, we can handle this without some rag tag team hol-" Trixie was interrupted by Rodin, who covered her mouth with a nervous chuckle, struggling to keep her mouth shut in hopes they wouldn't become outcasts after only a day being in Fairy Tail.

"Sorry about that, she's still working on thinking before she actually speaks, we'll be happy to work with you," He told them nervously, making the team look at him with a look of confusion, but were happy that they accepted their help.

"Well that settles it," Mira declared, grabbing a stamp from the bottom drawer of the bar to mark the request as _Taken_, and handing it back to Levy who put the paper in her book bag she was carrying.

"Alright you two, since this isn't too far away, meet us near the town square in about an hour and we'll head off together," Levy advised the duo before heading out of the guild with Jet and Droy right behind her.

"Phew," Rodin exhaled in relief, suddenly feeling a sharp stabbing pain on his hand that caused him to yell out in pain and release Trixie, who swung her tail with all her might right into the bridge of her partner's nose, causing him to fall down on the floor. Everyone looked over to see what was going on, noticing the feline going on top of his chest and pull his shirt up to bring him face-to-face.

"You know I hate when you freaking do that," Trixie whispered to him in an aggravated tone while he rubbed his nose from the impact, "And why the hell did you let them come with us?!".

"Look Trixie, I get that you're used to it being just us when we do stuff like this, but we're part of Fairy Tail now," Rodin answered, grabbing her and putting her on the floor to get up from it, sliding up his sleeve to show his guild mark. "It's not us going full throttle whenever we want, if we do something bad or get people hurt, This guild will be blamed and we'll be at fault, understood?"

All Trixie could do at that point was give a scowl at what he told her, knowing what he said made sense even if she didn't want to admit it, which made her huff in annoyance and she flew out of the guild alone. Rodin exhaled with frustration at his partner, standing up and dusting himself off before thanking Mira for the drink and exiting the guild to head back to the inn. After entering his room to grab his supplies, already seeing that Trixie had gotten her stuff and left without him, the stone-slayer cleaned the room up and grabbed the bag, exiting the inn and giving the front clerk their room key back. Taking a quick stop at the guild to give him and his partner's bag for Mira to hold onto, Rodin bowed in thanks and head outside, taking his necklace out and giving it a kiss for good-luck before beginning his walk towards the destination Levy addressed. In his heart, he felt excitement about the mission, cracking his knuckles and neck to pump himself up for anything that might come at him, but was unaware that his first mission would not be so easy.

* * *

**_Magnolia Town Square_**

**_One Hour Later_**

The Town Square was pulsing with life all around, many of the residents were enjoying the day by taking some taking part of the special sales the local shops had, and others enjoying the merchandise of traveling merchants that had set up to showcase their unique products. Amongst the large crowd was Rodin and Trixie, both of whom showed to be a bit annoyed with one another, purposely avoiding eye contact with each other while they walked to their destination. After five minutes of silence, Rodin turned to his companion, sighing with guilt and knew that the stunt he pulled at the guild was inappropriate, and despite knowing that she would add the apology to her mental list, he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Listen, I just wanna say I'm sorry, you know I never intended to do that to you, not after what happened to you. I just want us to make a good impression Trixie, we want this guild to like us, so... Are we square?" Rodin addressed his companion, noticing her tail flicked a bit and figured she was starting to calm down and think about what he said. She surprised him by sprouting wings to levitate herself onto his shoulder, sitting down and wrapping her arm around his head.

"Yes you big dork, and by the way, that makes it seventy-nine times I was right so far ," Trixie added jokingly, making her partner roll his eyes, but then felt her head lean on his the rest of the way. "Do you think they'll accept my help? I mean, not exactly like many see what I can do as _useful_".

"Last time I checked, you mostly beat me in hand-to-hand when we met remember?" Rodin claimed, making the feline's ears twitch with embarrassment, causing her to rub her head and chuckle nervously. "We'll need all of us to get this right, so whatever ability we have will be greatly appreciated".

"Well look at you, since when did that lump of coal you call a head become such a diamond of knowledge?" She replied sarcastically with a chuckle, leaving Rodin to roll his shoulder and let her fell back on the floor, walking away with a smirk on his face. "I'll give you that one pebble pucker.."

After eventually passing through the large crowd of people to their destination, Rodin and Trixie looked onward to see Levy and the others waiting by the fountain, talking about something that the duo couldn't make out. Levy turned her head and saw their allies, waving them towards where they were.

"Hey, glad you two could make it, was worried you had cold feet," Droy addressed, hoping to ease them into their first mission with some light humor.

"Yeah sorry about that, took us a while because we had to get our stuff and check out of the innl we were at thanks to Someone," Rodin told them in annoyance, making Trixie huff at his remark.

_"Last time I do you a favor, ungrateful jackass," _Trixie thought in her mind, feeling tempted to claw at his face again, but decided to do it later, away from viewing eyes.

"Will you guys be alright?" Levy asked with worry in voice, making Trixie look a bit surprised at her reaction since not many cared if they were on the streets or not, at least that's how she saw it.

"Yeah, Mira was kind enough to let us store our bags in Fairy Tail until we finish this job, which speaking of, where exactly are we at with that?" Rodin wondered since no one had told him anything specific, and he was not one for going in without some kind of plan.

"Ah right, one of the reasons I said to meet in an hour," Levy began to explain, reaching down into her bag and grabbing the piece of paper that was the job request, pulling it out to show them all. "The client, Duke Marsh, is an old acquaintance of the mayor of this town. Every year or so, they meet up at a secluded part of the East forest to talk, though what it is they talk about isn't clear," Levy then proceeded to bring out a light pen, activating it and drawing out illustrations of the meeting place and its surroundings.

"What's important is that our task is to make sure that their meeting goes accordingly without any mistakes, and cannot afford to fail" She continued before drawing five figures, each one representing a member of the group. "For now, we'll be doing regular patrols in different sections of the forest, covering the open areas, the goal is to make it by the setting sun, is that understood?" Levy addressed, making the group nod, putting a smile on her face before putting the pen away to stand up from the ground. "Then Team Fairy Tail, let's head out"

"Yeah, that's our Levy-Chan," Both Jet and Droy declared in unison, causing Rodin and Trixie to sweat-drop in confusion at their response, making Levy blush a bit while she started walking ahead of them with her admirers following post-haste.

"This is gonna be a long day," The duo muttered under their breath, following Team Shaowgear towards the East Forest outside of the town, said to be one of the most dense forests within Magnolia. Meanwhile in the hidden shadows of the town, two figures could be seen in the alley when the group passed through, making one of them smile and reveal sharp white teeth.

* * *

_**East Forest**_

_**Outskirts of Magnolia**_

The sun was shining brightly down onto the tall trees of the East Forest, making it difficult for sunlight to enter due to the thick branches that cut off most of the sun's rays, except for a only few that pierce the veil of leaves that covered the forest. On the dirt road of the forest was the Fairy Tail group, who had been trudging through the beaten path for an hour now, trying to find the exact location where the Mayor and Duke would be waiting for them.

"God, if I had known this place would be boiling, I would've left my sleeves at home!" Trixie yelled out with frustration, feeling her fur trapping the heat, making her sweat with each step she took. She looked onward to her friends, three of them in the same situation she was, all except for Rodin, who showed to have a composed demeanor on his face despite the annoying heat.

"No kidding, I sure as hell picked a bad day to wear this hat," Jet added before taking it off to wipe the sweat from his brow, "So Rodin, how exactly can you stand this heat?".

"There's heat going on?" Rodin remarked sarcastically, making Droy, Jet, and Trixie all looked at Rodin with annoyance while he chucked at their reaction, "Just a little walking humor, believe it or not, my training had me doing stuff that made this heat seem like a day in the sun".

"What do you mean?" Levy wondered curiously before she grabbed a canteen of water to drink, handing it back to her allies.

"My grandmother, Terrageneis, used to train me in different places when I was growing up, some even hotter than here," He confessed, using his **Stone Sword **spell to cut through some of the thicker vines that were in his way and making a path for the others to go through safely. "She'd make me meditate in the middle of a scorching desert once, told me that I couldn't stop until water hit me, lucky for me after two hours, I sweated so much you could use me as a fountain and I stopped before I got heatstroke".

"EEEHHHHHH?!" Team Shadowgear yelled with shock at what Rodin had just told them, making Trixie laugh with enjoyment before using her wings to fly up to Rodin, landing on his head and spread them to give her partner some shade.

"Geez flint-head, your grandma sounded lovely," Trixie argued.

"No kidding, I'm shocked you'd actually have to do something like that, what was the point of it all?" Levy inquired, getting back the canteen after Jet and Droy took drink.

"Grandma was stubborn as could be, but someone like her was wise beyond her years if you could believe it, it was one of four teachings she gave me when I was still learning how to use **Dragon Slayer Magic,**" He replied before stopping when something unusual appeared before him, causing the others to stop and look ahead to find what appeared to be a dome of sorts.

"Wonder what that is?" Droy wondered curiously, leaving Trixie to fly upward from Rodin's head to the dome, tapping it with her paw to cause vibration to echo loudly through the forest, causing some of the animals to run scared from the sound.

"Whatever it is, I can feel quite a bit of magic emanating from it-" The feline stopped suddenly when the sound of an opening door could be heard, making the group look over to the side, seeing a square light appear and witnessed someone exited the dome itself. The person looked in the direction of the group, pulling out what appeared to be a hand-gun, forcing the group to begin charging up their magic energy in case the stranger had decided to attack them. A small ray of sunlight revealed the stranger's appearance, showing the figure to be a male, wearing a full-black tight suit from head to toe, along with a black mask with white circle markings around the two eye-slots. Over the tight suit, he shows to wear a special vest with a white-spider marking on it, two specialized black claw gauntlets that cover from his forearm to his shoulder with spikes, and lastly wearing combat boots with two knee guards covered with the same black spikes as his gauntlets.

"You've got about three seconds to tell me who you are before I blow your heads clean off your shoulders," The masked male declared harshly, making the group the feel the sharpness behind his words, and caused Rodin focused with Jet and Droy moving forward in front of Levy and Trixie to protect them.

Before anything could be said or done, another figure walked through the doorway of light to stretch for a bit, turning to the right and witnessed what was happening, rushing towards them in hopes he could stop them before they'd do anything foolish. The sudden visitor ran, skidding a bit when he tried to stop and found himself right in the middle of the two groups. The Fairy Tail mages stood staring at a tanned man in front of them, sporting what appeared to be a mix of a light-ivory colored long coat and jacket that runs down to the end of his knees with the collar sticking upward. His pants could only been seen from the shins down to the feet, showing to be a creme-colored baggy pants along with white slipper-like shoes that appeared clean even though he ran in the dirt.

"Hold your fire Gavin, these are not our enemies, they're the mages I requested from the nearby guild," He revealed to the masked mask, who gave a look of shock on his face due to the movement his facial muscles made.

"Duke Marsh, with respect sir, you can't expect a couple of rag-tag mages to-" Galvin began to explain, but was stopped by the other man in front of him when he raised his hand.

"Enough Gavin! I brought you along to act as my liaison in this meeting, Fairy Tail is here to act as the security for it, is that understood?" He addressed Gavin in a strict voice, causing a growl of annoyance to emanate from the bodyguard before he holstered his gun, bowing in respect and walking away to reenter the dome.

"I apologize for my protector's behavior, he means well but lacks control," Marsh apologized, allowing the group to lower their defense after Gavin had left, looking now at the man standing in front of him.

"So you're Duke Marsh I presume?," Levy addressed, pushing past Jet and Droy while reaching into her bag to pull out the job request, handing it for the Duke to look over.

"Yes I am, I'm glad Fairy Tail accepted this job, my old friend tells me you're one of the most accomplished guilds across the Earth-lands," He admitted, causing Jet and Droy smirked with confidence, leaving Trixie to roll her eyes in annoyance at their eagerness. The stone-slayer passed through his allies, walking up to Levy and the Duke and stopping next to his friend.

"No disrespect Duke, but why exactly would someone of your status be meeting the mayor in the middle of nowhere?" Rodin curiously asked, making the others give him a comical look of shock and surprise, minus Trixie, who simply face-palmed at his response.

"Haha, quite the blunt person aren't you?" Marsh replied, motioning them to follow him towards the part of the dome he exited, pressing his hand onto the side to summon up a magic circle around the palm of his hand. After a few seconds, the door of light once again emerged, allowing the Duke to enter in it, seemingly disappearing from view . Rodin and Levy looked at each other before they both went in, leaving Trixie and the others to follow in as the light temporarily blinded them the moment they entered.

* * *

_**Inside The Dome**_

After a few seconds for their eyes to adjust, the mages saw an amazing sight of a pure white dome covering sky, right over what appeared to be a small lake with a tent on the side, showing to have a table under it with two chairs. They could see one of the figures standing there, which Levy recognized as the mayor of Magnolia, who turned over to the sound of the opening door and waved to the people who entered. On a nearby make-shift watch station located on top of a tree on the other side of the lake, the group saw the black-clothed bodyguard on there.

"You see, before I was Duke, the Mayor and I used to enjoy spending our time at this particular lake," Marsh began to explain, sitting down on the nearby tree stop before continuing, "We were the best of friends as young children, but like with many things, duty and responsibility came into play and it became more difficult to find the time to enjoy the simplicity of nature. It worsened after I was forced to move back to my ancestral home to complete my trials".

Marsh then looked over to the sounds of what appeared to be squirrels frolicking, noticing one in particular that was left behind by it's friends, leaving it to go up a tree to find food alone. "Those times were lonely, all it was for my family was the survival of our legacy, personal attachments were a distraction, and only lasting results were the goal in my life," He begrudgingly expressed, causing the mages to sympathies with the man, knowing what it was like to be alone at some point in time. "Though there was a silver lining the day I came back to Magnolia, my once good friend was able to become mayor, allowing us to spend time once more together, promising that no matter our schedule, we'd always find time to enjoy and remember the good times".

The same squirrel that was alone now showed to have a friend next to it, giving a look of joy before the two began running together up the tree, enjoying their fun together, making the Duke cry before he grabbed his handkerchief from his pocket to blow his nose in.

"I can see now why it would be dangerous for you two to meet here," Rodin acknowledged, walking up to the Duke and placing a hand on his shoulder, "There is no need to worry Duke Marsh, we will be honored to help with anything you need".

The Duke turned to Rodin in surprise with surprise, looking on to see his allies walk towards them with smile before nodding in agreement, making the Duke tear up once more and bow in thanks before heading back to his friend to continue the game they were playing. The group looked at each other and nodded, going back to the door of the dome and exiting, preparing to start their patrol to protect the duke.

* * *

_**East Forest**_

**_Outside Dome_**

"For someone who's considered to be an elite, he's not exactly what I expected," Trixie began to say when they exited the dome, not having expected someone important like the Duke would have a soft-side to him, turning over to Levy, who noticed the feline's glance at her.

"A wise man once said, _Never judge a book by its cover,_ and in this case it's right on the money," Levy remarked, going over what the group talked about once more and splitting up the group into the following teams: Herself with Jet and Droy and Rodin with Trixie. After the selections were made, the two groups went their separate and began their walk through their select posts. The duo of Rodin and Trixie were trekking through the dense forest, pushing through and using Rodin's **Stone Sensing** to get an edge over any type of sneak-attack from any bandits.

After an hour of patrolling, they found themselves now resting on top of a dead tree, drinking from a canteen filled with water before putting it away to save for later. Trixie looked on, thinking about what the Duke told them a while ago, making her wonder why someone like him would even get all mushy like that and huffed in annoyance before blurting something out loud.

"I don't like this Rodin," Trixie exclaimed, leaving Rodin to look at her with confusion on his face at what she meant by that.

"What exactly don't you like?" He asked with curiosity.

"Just how that Duke reacted, I mean he's probably loaded with money, yet somehow he prefers to sit in some dome just to talk to a friend? Just seems like a colossal waste of time," She bluntly stated, getting off from the tree and looked up to the sky.

"Trixie, not every rich person spends their time looking down on poor folks and being cruel, he's not like the people that hurt you". The feline looked away at his response, moving her tail to her hands as she looked at the ribbon around it, remembering the pain and hurt she felt back that someone rich inflicted on her.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Hinder Town**_

_In a dark alley way on a cold raining night, the sounds of clatter and bottles breaking could be heard echoing around, but no one showed to acknowledge it. Inside one of the trash cans showed to be a young Trixie, covered head to toe in grim and sludge from the contents in the trash-cans, looking for something to eat in the to fill her belly. She found a piece of stale bread before jumping out of the trash, rushing to her empty box to get out of the rain coming down, eating the entire piece by herself. _

_The sound of the door opening could be heard in the alley, quickly sinking back into her box, listening to the sounds of heels clicking on the street followed by the sounds of barking, which was shown to come from a little dog that was following the owner of the heels clicking on the floor._

_This caused the feline to quickly back into her box, not wanting her eyes to be seen by the dog, but caused her tail to be exposed out of the box and grabbed the attention of the tiny dog. Recognizing the scent immediately, the dog began barking loudly with excitement before growling and jumping towards the tail with its mouth opened, biting down and causing Trixie to yell out in pain and scare both the dog and the owner._

_"No, Flutter!" The woman yelled when she heard the painful scream coming from the box, picking up her dog from the floor before taking off her left heel, holding the long side to use as a weapon against the tail. She slammed it down hard, piercing the tail and quickly getting out of the alley, leaving Trixie alone with a painful wound on her tail and blood pouring down it like a river._

_Grabbing some bandages that she stole from someone's house, the feline wrapped her tail best she could, sobbing before she got out of the box and started walking in the rain, yelling out for anyone to help her. Eventually, she found light in one of the doors and banged on it, trying to get anyone to answer it despite the heavy rain muffled her knocks._

_Her knocking worked and the door opened to reveal a middle age overweight man, eating what appeared to be a turkey leg coated and dripping with gravy, and wearing fine clothes, looking around to see who was the person knocking and looked down to see the feline. "Feh, vile abomination, away with you!" He yelled, spitting gravy from his mouth onto her head and slamming the door right in her face._

_Trixie shivered from the freezing cold, feeling her tears drop down her face and began walking away, trying to find someone to help her with her tail, eventually finding a doctor who healed her tail. Since that day however, the young feline swore against anyone with any kind of rich background, thinking that all of them were nothing but scum who only cared about themselves._

* * *

**_Present_**

The scar on her tail was covered by the ribbon the doctor gave her to hide it with, serving as a constant reminder to that the wealthy only cared about themselves and their possessions, ignoring everyone whom they viewed with discontent. Her partner saw what she was thinking by looking at the ribbon, feeling like he had to give Marsh the benefit of the doubt.

"I get what happened to you was wrong, but you have to give people a chance Trixie, otherwise what's the point of living?" Rodin replied with concern, knowing his partner wasn't the type to say much about her emotions, but could feel it emanating from her body at times and wanted to help her out in any way he can.

Trixie was about to reply when she heard the snap of a twig close by, causing her to look around the area, realizing that someone was watching the two of them from hiding, moving her tail in a wagging fashion similar to that of a dog. He recognized it to be her way of telling him that someone was watching them, making the stone-slayer engage his **Stone Sensing **by slamming down his fist into the ground, getting a mental image of the area. He countered a small squad around the two of them, hiding in the high trees to try and deal an attack from the air

Rodin signaled Trixie to get ready for a fight, making the feline wink to respond, closing her eyes and channeling her magic to make her body glow, releasing a puff of smoke and transforming her into her **Battle-Mode**. In her new appearance, Trixie appeared to become more like an humanoid, possessing a thin-toned curvy body with the markings of her fur still on, but now showed to have breasts and curvy hips. Her legs were long as her thighs were large, while her arms now appeared thin instead of little like in her normal form. Her hands showed to become like those of regular humans, while her feet remained more like her first form, and her face more defined yet remained the same.

"On my signal," Rodin whispered, channeling his magic into his arms and cloaking them both with his stone scales, thrusting them deep onto the ground and summoning up a magic circle that spread to the two arms. When he pulled them out, the scales had greatly changed due to merging with some of the stone in the ground, giving the appearance of having metal arms that were brown colored and with scale-patterns that went up to his shoulder, giving them the appearance of long-armed gloves. Eating a stone he found close to him, Rodin took in a deep breath, holding the air in before he then began to spin, releasing it into the first spell most Dragon Slayer's learn to use:

"**Stone Dragon's Roar!**"

The release of the spell was a wide range roar, spreading out across the area when Rodin spun around like a top, bombarding the trees with multiple shards of rock that ripped apart the trees with ease. This included hitting the people that were hiding in the high parts of the tree, knocking them out and cutting through them like butter, making them bleed when they fell to the ground.

"Men, attack!" One bandit bellowed out after seeing what happened, causing an entire squad to emerge from the forest, but got ambushed by the feline Trixie who rushed to them at high speeds and proceeded to deliver a flurry of punches and kicks to each of them, easily taking down half of them before going on to fight the other half.

Rodin joined in the battle, attacking and dodging his opponents with his covered arms blocking incoming spells that were aimed towards him, bouncing some back due to the reflective appearance of his arms. He straightened his right arm forward at the bandits sending out spells, concentrating magic energy before the scales began to glow, making them float in mid-air and turning his arm back to normal.

"**Stone Dragon's Barrage!**"

The floating scales were sent forward at high speeds, making it appear to be a storm of stones that went towards the incoming attacks, piercing them, and hitting their casters with such force that it knocked them out upon impact. Rodin saw the remaining bandits look at the two with fear in their faces, quickly running away and leaving the two to relax for a moment with the stone-slayer cancelling his remaining coated arm to save some energy.

"You better run!" Trixie yelled with anger, making his partner quickly realized that if there was one ambush squad, there could be more and used his **Stone Sensing** to get a read on Team Shadowgear. Not too far from the duo's location, Rodin could see Levy and the others engaging in battle with the bulk of the bandits, making him think that it would be a bit more than they could handle.

"Gloat later Trixie, we gotta go give Shadowgear some back up," He yelled before taking off running with his partner flying after him, crossing through some of the dense areas, knowing that it would be a whole lot faster than trying to go around.

After a few minutes of running, they made their way to the site, but became shocked to see that in the middle of the field, laid the bulk of the bandits, having been knocked unconscious by Team Shadowgear, who were standing in front of them. Rodin could see Levy using her **Solid Script Magic**, writing the word **Prison **and creating a large cage that was based within the actual word itself.

"You guys took your sweet time," Jet boasted, dashing around to collect the remaining bodies and putting them into the prison.

"Glad to you see you two made it in-" Levy began to say, but stopped when she saw Trixie, staring at her with comedic eyes in shock, especially focusing on where her breasts were.

"Is that...Trixie?" Droy asked with shock in his voice, making Trixie look at Rodin with a smug look on her face, making him shake his head in amusement.

"Yes, it's her, don't ask me how," Rodin told them, seeing that the look stayed on their faces for a few minutes, but stopped when they heard an incoming blast come from the forest, hitting Rodin right in the chest. The stone-slayer felt the impact and force behind the blast, but tightened himself and stood his ground, feeling that the blast could knock him down on his butt if he didn't have a solid defense.

"Well I'm impressed, it's one thing to be able to take down all my comrades, but you have strength boy if you didn't even move from my attack," a deep voice acknowledged, making the rest of the group look over to where the blast came from.

The light revealed the figure to be a young man with brown spiky hair, sporting serious deep scars on his face, his attire consisting of a white, short-sleeved shirt over a red t-shirt. His bottom half had black-loose pants on with a pair of brown shoes on his feet. The group looked surprised at the person, not expecting the leader of the bandits to be young-looking and wearing casual clothing.

"So, any particular reason you blasted me, or you looking to find an early grave?" Rodin said threateningly as he cracked his neck, glaring back at the person that attacked him.

"I call that a warning shot, you'd do best to take that to heart and clear out," he remarked, charging his magic energy as a blue light appeared in his hand, glowing brighter and brighter each passing second. "You Fairy Tail mages should get out of here while you have the chance, I got business with the Duke that's inside the dome, and it's better that he and I have some privacy".

"Tell you what, you can take that glowing hand of your's and shove it up your ass for all I care," Trixie yelled out, enraged by what he did to her partner. "There's no way you're laying a finger, not with us around."

The bandit chuckled at her response, "Oh well, can't say I didn't give you a chance," he boasted, fully charging his fist and slamming it into the ground, causing an eruption of energy to propel forward and blast the group backwards into the trees. "Just so you know, my magic is known as **Iron Fist**, the blast you got hit with was stored energy I got after fighting a few times and storing it using my magic. This means I can pretty much break you Fairy Tail saps down to size and not even break a sweat".

"Still feeling confident Trixie?" Rodin commented sarcastically, getting up from where he landed, suddenly feeling a spike in magic emanate from the bandit-leader, quickly ducking down to avoid whatever he sent forward. The stone-slayer looked up to see what looked like **Chain Magic **produced from the palm of his hand, making Rodin turn his head to see that Team Shadowgear and his partner had been tangled together in chains.

"Huh, didn't expect you to dodge the attack without looking, some reflex you got kid," the bandit-boss boasted, making Rodin look back to him with anger painted on his face, standing up from the ground to look directly at him.

"Let them go, now!" Rodin demanded, bearing his fangs in rage.

His opponent scoffed at his attempt to threaten him, replying by summoning another chain from his left hand and sending it to strike the stone-slayer. However, the bandit-boss didn't expect Rodin to grab it out of nowhere, gripping it and flinging his opponent right at him, connecting a stone-cloaked punch right into his face and sending him right into a nearby tree.

"I won't ask again, let them go!" the stone-slayer threatened, making his aura grow brighter the more irritated he became.

"Hehe, not a bad punch," The man commented, wiping the small trail of blood that came from his mouth before standing up, "You may actually give me a challenge after all before I kill that duke".

The two of them looked at one another, while the chained up group looked on with frustration due to their attempts of breaking through the chains that wrapped them up but failed. Levy looked on with worry at her comrade, realizing that their enemy was strong and he would not go do so easily and he would need help. Her train of thought got interrupted when she heard someone whistling to her, making her turn to see Trixie giving the mage a reassuring expression.

"Don't worry so much, Rodin may be stubborn and thick-headed, but the man's no slouch," Trixie admitted before turning his attention back to the fight, making Levy take the feline's words to heart and decided to cheer him on in silence.

The two mages glared at each other intently before both went on the offensive, starting with the bandit-boss charging up energy in both his arms before he started throwing punches, sending blasts of magic aimed right at Rodin. Seeing them coming, he dodged a few before going on the right, finding that his opponent followed him and kept up with the attack until he managed to land a few hits on him, slamming him right into the ground.

The bandit's attack followed up with him putting his hands together and charging up the energy, slowly pulling them apart to show a bright sphere, thrusting it forward in an attempt to hit the stone-slayer still on the ground. Suddenly, Rodin pushed himself up, quickly swinging his hand vertically and crafting his **Stone Dragon's Sword **spell that intercepted with the sphere and caused an explosion to occur, engulfing him with the smoke.

His opponent looked with a cocky smile, expecting him to have easily broke the blade but was surprised when he heard shouting come from the cloud of smoke:

"**Stone Dragon's Salvo!**"

A flurry of projectile swords cut through the smokescreen, in an attempt to block the incoming attacks, the bandit-boss charged his magic through both of his forearms and countered with them by punching at each one with high reflexes, while also dodging some of the others that he couldn't get to in time.

However, he didn't realize that the attack sent at him was only a distraction until it was too late and was suddenly floating upwards, thanks to an uppercut delivered by the stone-slayer who erupted from the ground and slamming his fist under his jaw. The blow struck hard and sent him flying upward, but the attack didn't stop there due to Rodin grabbing one of his legs, gripping it and shifting his opponent's weight in one direction to toss him right into another tree.

The group saw the action Rodin did and cheered, realizing what Rodin had initially done after the smokescreen surrounded him: After sending the multiple stone blades launching at his opponent to make it look like he was attacking, the stone-slayer quickly pierced the ground with his sword and dug his way underground right to his opponents side, and after sensing that he had been distracted enough, broke out of his hole and delivered his surprise attack.

"Wow, never thought a Dragon Slayer could actually think and not just wing it," Jet admitted, making Trixie glare at him when she heard the remark.

"Please, unlike most Slayers, Rodin's actually a quick thinker and doesn't just go on a rampage," the feline declared, looking back to the fight and noticing her partner crack his neck, giving a satisfied smile at what he accomplished.

However, that small step forward turned three steps back when the bandit-boss suddenly emerged in front of him, slamming his fist right into his face and creating an explosion that blasted through Rodin's body. The attack caused Rodin to cough up a bit blood, but didn't end due to his opponent sending two more blasts and delivering a heavy kick to his head, sending him right into the ground and tumbling a few feet before he stopped.

The group looked in shock at what they witnessed, trying to figure out how his opponent could have recovered so quickly and moved at such a speed that they couldn't see.

"Phew, now that actually hurt," The bandit admitted before spitting out a small bit of blood that he had in his mouth and turning to the slayer on the ground struggling to get back up. "I've taken some beatings before, but never that hard, I almost blacked out one that and that in itself made me scared. Sorry junior, failed to mention that my magic actually strengths my own body too when you do damage, meaning the hits you did to me only made me better And faster".

"Yeah, maybe," Rodin began to say while smiling, making the bandit look at him with confusion at what he found funny, "But it also means you become more arrogant too, and fail to see that I just got you right where I want you". The stone-slayer slammed the palm of his hand right into the ground, summoning a magic circle that engulfed the ground under the bandit-boss's feet, making him look to the floor and realize what was about to happen.

"**Stone Dragon's Terramorph!**"

The ground itself turned almost living with the ground taking a loose fluid shape, swirling around and entrapping the bandit-boss by splitting the ground up almost like a mouth and dragging him right into it, eventually being _eaten _by the ground and trapped underneath. Roaring and pouring in a bit more magic, Rodin caused the ground to rumble one more time, causing an explosion in the form similar to that of a volcanic eruption, only instead the blast released the bandit boss flying and slamming down, knocked out by the attack.

The group witnessed what had just happened, still unsure how Rodin managed to defeat him but didn't give it a second thought when the chains were released and they were finally free. They all cheered in victory, rushing over to their comrade and found him sitting up, wiping some of the blood from his face before looking to see them come at him.

"Wow, that was so awesome!" Jet exclaimed, helping the stone-slayer off the ground.

"Yeah, was amazing how you beat up," Droy added before grabbing the bandit-boss and putting him in the prison with the rest of his followers.

"You okay?" Levy inquired, seeing that the stone-slayer took quite a bit of damage from the attack.

"Ugh, those punches weren't love taps," Rodin disclosed, feeling a bruise already starting to form on his stomach, knowing now that there was people way stronger than he originally thought. His train of thought was interrupted by Trixie poking his stomach, causing a sharp pain to occur.

"Come on you big baby, smile," Trixie congratulated, making his partner chuckle at her before standing on his own and sensed incoming footsteps and recognized them to be the Duke and his bodyguard coming towards them. Duke Marsh entered the area, realizing that there was a serious struggle that occurred, but gave a look of relief when he found that the Fairy Tail mages were still alive and had captured the people that attacked them.

"Thank goodness your all safe, the shaking and such could be felt even within the dome and after it stopped, I just had to be sure everyone was okay," Duke Marsh proclaimed when he got in front of them.

"Gotta admit, you Fairies actually did pretty well," Galvin remarked with surprise in his tone, walking over to Levy's **Solid Script **word and noticed the leader inside of it. "Looks like we got a couple of people for the **Rune Knights **to pick up Duke".

"I'll have my friend contact them when we return, right now," the man began before grabbing an envelope from his pocket and handing it to Levy, "Your reward money and the bonus, my way of saying thank you for all that you done, I hope I can call on you to help again one day".

The mages bowed in respect, making Marsh do the same before turning around to head back to the dome while the mages exicitedly talked with one another about how Rodin and Trixie's first job became a success.

"Sir, those bandits were among some of the most feared in the Earthlands, why would you purposely hire them to attempt an assassination on yourself?" Galvin revealed, having flashbacks of he and the Duke talking to the bandit group while wearing cloaks to hide their identities.

"Simple my loyal bodyguard, I was recruiting and while I'm shocked to admit it, they passed all expectations I had for the guild, they're perfect," the Duke remarked in a sinister tone, revealing an evil grin on his face before the two of them disappeared into the shadows of the trees, leaving the group of Fairy Tail in the dark of what real person Duke Marsh actually is.

* * *

**_Magnolia Town Square_**

**_Night Time_**

The once vibrant city filled with many people now stood silent, many of the buildings now encased in darkness with only the street lanterns illuminating the roads to allow anyone still out to head home. Near the town square, Rodin and his allies had finally arrived back to the town after an hour of walking through the East Forest.

They stopped at their first meeting point, making Levy pull out the envelope and handing them all their share of the reward, making Trixie look on with surprise that she was including, giving her a small feeling of happiness that their allies considered her an important part of their success.

After receiving the money, Rodin exhaled a breath of exhaustion and felt the soreness from the attacks he was dealt still residing, knowing that he needed a good night's rest and some stones to help him recover. Levy and her team decided to go celebrate their job well done, offering Rodin and Trixie to come join them, but declined the offer and stated that they needed to head back to the guild to grab their stuff and find another inn to stay in.

Saying their farewells, the two groups each went their separate ways and walked off into the night towards their separate destinations, enjoying the happiness of a job well done. However, the groups did not feel the animosity in the air emanating from the top of a roof, unaware that their happiness would soon be crashing down not just on them, but for the entire group of Fairy Tail.

* * *

**_Phew, that's all she wrote. That brings us to the end of this chapter, and I must say, the longest work I've done so far in my history of writing on here. Now for those who were confused by some references I gave, here is some clarification: Gavin's appearance was based off of Agent Venom from the marvel Comics. The Iron Fist magic was a reference to the marvel comics as well, in which a superhero that is not only named Iron Fist, but can summon a powerful chi aura that makes his own fist strong as steel. Hope you guys enjoy this long chapter, stayed tune for the first official arc in the Fairy Tail story line, Phantom Lord Arc. Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion in the reviews and see you next time on chapter 6: Fairy Tail vs Phantom Lord: Part I._**


	6. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part I

**Chapter 6**

_**Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail**_

_**Part I**_

_**Reedited**_

* * *

**_Fairy Tail Guild_**

**_Nighttime_**

The calm soothing evening engulfed the town of **Magnolia**. Whenever someone turned a corner, the gentle winds brushed up against their faces. On the brooding streets, sounds of footsteps echoed out into the night. The gleaming light of the moon washed over the streets, gradually inching forward to reduce the shadows creeping forward. Within its path, Rodin Clark and Trixie walked on, passing through its purifying glow.

Their conversation hadn't been heard by many due to them whispering. Though after finally reaching the guild hall, the two stopped at the doorway, taking a second to catch their breath.

"Geez, you'd think after so many missions, we'd be pretty much used to stuff like this," the feline muttered in pain. She found her wings sore from hovering and landed down on Rodin's head to rest. The stone-slayer moved his own hand to gently pet her while she laid down.

"Well it wasn't like we were dealing with petty criminals," Rodin remarked at her. "After all, we're official mages now and the threats are even more deadlier than before".

The feline nodded at his response, simply letting him carry her through the doors and into the guild-hall. Pulling them apart, the duo entered in and found the inside to have a similar atmosphere to the outside. They looked around and saw the hall empty. The once rowdy hall was now nothing more than lonely tables and silent cleaning provided by Mirajane and Max.

"Oh, hello you two," the bartender announced with joy. Rodin walked over to where Mira was cleaning the bar, sitting down with Trixie falling off of his head and landing on the counter. "How did the mission go?"

"Went well, we really earned the money on this first job," the slayer remarked before pulling out the envelope with his and Trixie's share in it. "Though don't ask how the mission itself went, the bruises tell that story".

"That's good to hear, I'm glad it turned out well. Although I'm sure you'll be feeling that for quite a while," Mira teased at the feline.

Trixie moaned and struggled to sit up, looking over to Mira with pain in her eyes. "Give us two drinks, please".

"Coming right up".

The bartender went to grab two clean cups, grabbing some of the bottles from the shelves. While she was making the duo their drinks, Trixie remembered the object that the master gave her.

"Rodin, I almost forgot. Check this out," the feline remarked before going into her bag Mira was holding onto. A few minutes of searching inside, she pulled out a small brown package addressed to her partner. "Got this from the old man before we left, said this was a key for us to an apartment".

The slayer gave her a questioning look, shaking the box a bit to hear the key inside. Two more shakes later, he began to tear off the wrapping. Trixie decided to help out too. She extended her claws to slice off the remaining paper. Leaving only the medium-sized box exposed with the initials _R.C _on the front.

"Here you are guys," Mira announced, placing the drinks in front of them. The feline grabbed some of the money from the envelope to pay, quickly turning her attention back on the package. Mira stayed to look on and see what was inside.

Not able to take the suspense, Rodin casually ripped the top open and shook the contents out onto the bar counter. What dropped from inside of it was the key and a white envelope.

"I'm guessing this is the key then?" Rodin wondered, turning now to the envelope next to it.

"Guess so," Trixie retorted, grabbing the key to examine it.

While his partner focused on the object, the stone-slayer grabbed the envelope that was there to look over. Gently pulling the cover off, he pulled out the piece of paper that was folded inside and opened it. A few seconds of quick reading caused Rodin's eye to give a look of shock. Trixie was confused by his reaction and moved in between his arms to see what the letter said:

* * *

**_Dear Rodin, if you're reading this.._**

**_ By some miracle, you've made it all the way to Magnolia. Hell, I'm pretty sure the old man even convinced you to join up with the guild. Listen,_****_ I know it's been a tough road, but I also know that Fairy Tail's just the thing you need in your life right now. It's why I had him hold onto this and give it after you joined the guild._**

**_I figured if I could help in any way, I'd at least give you somewhere to live without worrying about the rent. The place I left to you is my old home where I grew up, but I made sure to make it comfy for you. Hell, I can remember taking your mom there one time and she even admitted it was better than our current home._**

**_Either way son, I want you to remember something. Home isn't a building or a room, it's with the people you care about and whom you love with all your heart. Keep me, your mother, and your grandmother alive in your heart._**

**_Proud of you, _**

**_Dad._**

* * *

After reading the letter, the stone-slayer let the paper drop on the bar counter without reservation. He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair, taking the mug of booze in front of him. In one chug, he drank the entire glass to calm himself. Both girls near him looked at each other with worry, wondering if the slayer was okay.

"Damn bastard, years go by since he left and now he chooses to be helpful?" Rodin muttered, scoffing before he folded the piece of paper. His partner gave a worried look before turning to the clock. She saw that it was getting late for the both of them.

"Come on Rodie, let's go head to this place, we need a new place after all," she prompted him gently. Rodin nodded at what she said, grabbing their bags and heading out with Trixie following. The duo made their way outside.

Mira looked down at the paper that Rodin left behind. Thinking that one day he would regret not taking it, she decided to hold on to it.

Once outside, the gentle cold night air once again surrounded their bodies, giving the two of them a soothing embrace with the gentle wind blowing at them. After enjoying the calm atmosphere, Rodin grabbed the part of the wrapping with the address to their new home. Giving a read over, the duo began their walk towards their destination.

* * *

_**Miller Apartment Complex**_

"This is the place?" Trixie questioned, looking back at the directions in hand.

"Apparently. Though I have to admit, looks nicer than what I was expecting," her partner remarked in awe.

It was near midnight since they left the guild, leaving them to wander the streets of Magnolia for an hour. The two trudged through multiple streets in the cold. They're long journey finally came to an end when they reached their destination, located at the far end of the town.

The building stood gallantly at three stories tall, white painted with a green colored roof on top. Each one of its floors had different colored windows with different forms of blinders or drapes that the residents had installed. The last noticeable part that completed the entire structure was the single glass door, stainless and clearer than the ocean itself.

Rodin's admiration of the building was interrupted by a small huff of annoyance. He then turned his attention to his feline partner. A pout had formed on her face. The slayer knew what she was thinking and was having second thoughts about not going inn hunting.

"You know, maybe you were right on the money about your old man," Trixie remarked. "He was a giant prick after all. I say we toss the key and go on our way".

"We can't. A, it's past midnight and no inn will have any rooms available. And b, this is rent free, so we're definitely taking it to save up for once".

Trixie scoffed in annoyance, which for Rodin meant that she didn't care anymore. Readjusting his bag, the slayer began walking towards the door. His feline partner followed behind, not wanting to spend the night in the cold, at least not without her partner.

Reaching for the handle of the door, the slayer pulled it down and pushed it open. The inside of the building mimicked a similar design to the outside. The lobby had a distinguished aura about it, despite it being empty. Its design like that of an elite's home. Various priceless vases and decorations were in the vicinity, including expensive tapestries and designer flooring.

The duo felt like they had just entered some foreign country for the first time in their lives. For a pair that often spent their entire time living on the road, it was a new experience. Especially for Rodin, who was more accustomed lifestyle since childhood.

His partner on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to tear up everything that was in front of her. Images of her past flashed in her eyes the more she continued looking around. However, the hate for the cold outweighed the hate for the rich, and she bottled up her emotions for another time.

Looking around, Rodin found that no bellhop or receptionist was in the lobby that could help him find the apartment. He thought for a second and remembered what they had on hand. "Trixie, let me see the key".

His partner reached into her small pocket, pulling out the key to hand to him. Examining it a bit more closely, the slayer noticed three mountain designs. What was odd about them was that they were at different heights starting from left to right.

"If you're trying to find the room number, forget it," Trixie acknowledged. "No signs of any kind of numbers far as I can tell".

"Not right away," Rodin commented, kneeling down to show the feline what he saw. "The mountains are the numbers. My mom always played this game with me when I was younger, **Number The Mountains**. Depending on how tall each mountain was, we gave it a specific number. Biggest ones we found were three's, mediums were two, smallest were ones".

"So, you mean that they're actually giving us the numbers with mountains?" Trixie uttered in shock. She had never heard of such a game in her life.

"Pretty much. So if its two tall mountains but one small one on the key, then the room must be on the third level".

Having found the lead, they looked around to find the staircase for the upper levels. Once located, the duo began their tiring trekking up to find their new home.

* * *

_**Third Floor**_

Ten minutes passed since they began their climb, and at that time, they had finally reached their destination. The soreness his body felt from the battle he had was weighing on him. At one point, he had to stop at the second floor to catch his breath. But despite the pain, they finally made it to the last floor of the building.

Upon stopping at the top, the two looked down the hall to notice that there were a few more rooms there. Each side only had three doors, leaving the rest of the hall shorter than the first two they arrived at. Trixie moved ahead while Rodin caught his breath, holding the key and looking at each of the numbered doors.

After reaching the last one on the left side, she gave a sigh of relief. The door in front of her was marked, 331. They finally found sanctuary and a good night's rest just waiting for them behind that door.

"Guess by that look, you found it, right?" Rodin asked, walking to his partner was.

"Yep, this is our new home, wanna do the honors? Trixie questioned, handing him the key.

Not being able to stay awake much longer, he gathered his wits to ward off sleep and inserted the key. Giving it a twist to the left, the lock in place slid to the opposite side. After feeling the lock shift, Rodin pulled the key out and opened to door. All he could see at the moment was a pitch black room when he pushed the door forward.

The slayer reached his hand in, moving it to the left in an attempt to feel for a light switch. A few seconds passed and he managed to find it, turning it up from its down position. With light illuminating the dark room, the duo looked in and both gained looks of surprise on their faces.

Their new apartment was way different compared to what they the outside and lobby of the building. In terms of appearance, it was an exact duplicate of the house Rodin grew up in. Everything from the furniture down to the seating arrangements was spot on. To the stone-slayer, it felt like he had just returned home from training with his grandmother.

"Wait," Trixie muttered, moving backwards to look at the design of the hallway. "This can't be the right spot, can it?".

Her partner couldn't reply, all his attention was focused on the room in front of him. Without realizing it, the slayer instinctively walked in. When he entered, the atmosphere mimicked the warmth of a loving home. It was like the room itself was welcoming Rodin home with open arms. Some part of him missed the feeling. Another part wanted to rage and destroy the impostor. For the first time in his life, the stone-slayer couldn't decide which to listen to.

"Rodin...Rodin!"

"Huh?"

"Everything alright? You gave a weird look just now".

"I..This is my old house.."

"Wait. That doesn't make sense, you told me-"

"It's like the inside of the house I grew up at in Hinder Village. Everything is exactly the same, I just..."

Trixie noticed that her partner was at a loss of words, which even surprised herself. She and Rodin were always close since they met. They shared a lot of stuff between one another, but not once did he ever mention his life before meeting her.

"Well, long as it's got a heater, I'm content," the feline admitted with honesty. She walked over to the living room, jumping up onto the couch. After adjusting herself on it, she was able to relax and loosen the tension from her body. It was the first time in months that she ever got to feel something so soft and soothing.

Meanwhile, Rodin's attention was focused on the kitchen area not too far from Trixie. At this point, he was more in shock of how perfect the duplication was. It missed some small details that he remembered. Even so, for the most part, the slayer wouldn't be able to tell which home was real.

The train of thought was interrupted by the howling of his stomach, begging for nutrients after not having lunch or dinner. Rodin heeded his stomach's wish and started looking around for food in the cupboards. Despite remembering where everything was at one time, the shelves in the apartment were empty. He took a look in the fridge and found that everything was empty.

A thought came to mind after opening the fridge.

"There's no dust.." Rodin muttered, looking around the usual spots dust would accumulate over time. Not a single one had a speck of dust. It got him thinking, who else had known about this place? A normal landlord would've rented out this spot with ease. Yet now that he and Trixie got there, the furniture his father had was still around, but no sign of age showed.

"Hey Trixie-"

The slayer turned to tell his discovery to his feline partner. However upon looking at her, he found that she was already out cold from exhaustion. Her snoring was a bit higher than normal. Almost like there was something stuck in her nose, meaning that she wouldn't wake up.

Even if an explosion occurred.

Seeing how peaceful she was, Rodin didn't want her having to worry about what he discovered. Or worse, spend the night out in the cold. He sighed in exhaustion and decided to keep this bit of info to himself for now, but would stay on alert just in case.

The replica grandfather clock his family owned chimed, showing it to be midnight.

Realizing that he still felt sore from the fight with the bandit boss, the stone-slayer decided to turn in himself. Walking to the couch, Rodin gingerly picked up and carried her to the guest bedroom.

Opening the door, he found that it was lacking any kind of alteration done to it. In the original house, the guest bedroom used to be his own room. This left the master bedroom to his parents, then later his mother, and then him.

All that was inside the room was white walls, a light, closet, and a twin sized bed in the middle. Putting her on top of the bed sheet, he reached into her bag and grabbed the blanket she always carried with her.

The blanket wasn't anything special, just a normal large light brown one with a checkered pattern stitched into it. However to Trixie, it was her best friend for the years she lived on the street. Once he placed it on her, she wrapped it around her body post haste.

Rodin chuckled, leaning down to give the feline a small kiss on the cheek. After the kiss, he stood up and walked out of the door, closing it behind him in silence. The stone-slayer sighed with grief and walked a few steps to the door next to his partner's room.

He felt a sense of deja vu standing in front of the door. In his younger days he was afraid of the dark from time to time. To him, his parents room was sort of like a barrier for all the evil monsters that he feared was under his bed. The reminiscing made him chuckle shamefully, wishing he could talk to his younger self and tell him he overreacted.

Rodin opened the door without hesitating and flicked the lights on in the room. Even though its been months since he was home, the scent in the air was the same.

While the guest-room hadn't had any adjustments done to it, the master-bedroom was a whole other story for the slayer.

Inside, Rodin saw that the room had light brown paint all around to mimic the color of stone. It was something that made him feel like he was back inside his grandmother's cave. On the right side, there was a two drawer dresser, composed of polished carved granite. One of his father's more accomplished hobbies before leaving the family.

In the middle was a large king-sized bed with what was a unique cover and blanket on top of it. It had a matching black pillow cases and blanket, only with a starry sky design on each. Near the bed was a closet with a bathroom right next door to it as well.

At that point, Rodin couldn't tell what was new or old due to the exhaustion getting to him. He struggled to take off his backpack and strip out of his dirty clothes. After a few minutes, he was now half-naked with only a pair of boxers on and his necklace around his neck. Around his back and chest, dark blue bruising and multiple cuts painted his entire upper half.

Before he could sleep, there was one last thing he needed to regardless of how sleepy he was. Grabbing his bag, he reached in to pull out an old sake bottle. Opening the top, he sniffed the contents and gagged for a few seconds. Knowing that it was needed, Rodin closed his nostrils with his fingers and forced the elixir down his throat.

Shuddering at the taste, he closed it back up and placed it back into the bag.

Rodin exhaled a sigh of relief that the experience was over and pulled the blanket down the bed. He slide onto the bed and pulled the covers to his chest. He shifted around a bit to get comfortable.

It took all but a few seconds for him to just drift to sleep.

All that could be heard through that apartment was the pendulum of the grandfather clock, swinging left to right in a casual motion. The duo were finally enjoying their peaceful sleep in their new homes. However, unaware to them, there was tension in the air outside.

A tension that would be the signal for a war that they and Fairy Tail would soon be a part of. Whether they wanted to or not.

* * *

_**Next Day**_

**_Early Afternoon_**

The dreading darkness in Magnolila was now replaced by the beautiful light of the sun in the sky. Throughout the town, much of the sunlight seeped into countless homes and businesses. It awoke the townspeople and kick-started the day.

The morning slowly disappeared before introducing the warm heat of the afternoon to the town. Some were busy preparing their foods for lunch. Others closed up their shops to take a break or follow the alluring scent of the food restaurants emitted.

Despite the sun's affect on the other citizens, there were some that slept through the light with ease.

In the Miller Apartment Complex, room 331. Rodin and Trixie were those that didn't awake from the light's invigorating warmth. Inside their apartment, both were still sleeping the day away. It was mostly due to the mission that they took the previous day. Their bodies were still trying to recover from the battles they had endured.

In Rodin's case though, the bruises and wounds that painted his body had significantly reduced in size. They were healing and leaving the stone-slayer free to move around without hurting himself. The sleeping slayer's dreams would soon end, thanks to an action his physical body invoked. After tossing and turning the entire night, the slayer's body was just near the edge of the bed.

With one more movement that mirrored something in his dream, he found himself waking up looking at the floor.

"Lovely," he muttered, finding it hard to breath with his face mashed. Pushing himself off, Rodin turned to the window. The light illuminated the small dark room, letting him know that the day had started without him.

He stretched his sore arms above his head. He still felt the soreness that still stayed despite drinking his special healing elixir last night.

After standing up, the stone-slayer looked around to find his pants that he was wearing yesterday. While preoccupied, he failed to notice the door opening behind him. Behind it was his feline partner, who was secretly watching him. Between the two of them, there was an age old tradition that they made up: Whoever woke up first would have to make breakfast for the winner. However, the second person must manage to surprise them without getting caught.

So far, Rodin had never once lost this game.

That day, Trixie vowed to win for once and enjoy a buffet of watermelon, all for herself. Pushing the door ever so slightly, she silently stepped in and made her way to the stone-slayer, who was now putting on his pants. The time was right and soon enough, Trixie made her move.

Dashing right to her partner, she practically headbutted the back of his knee. With that action, it caused Rodin's right leg to buckle and fall forward. Unfortunately, the feline did not expect that the stone-slayer would be so close to the granite drawer.

The realization came to her too late.

* * *

_**Magnolia streets**_

"Come on, I said I was sorry," the feline repeated with guilt to her partner.

Rodin simply kept his attention on where he was walking, only now he sported a bandage wrapped around his forehead. Some of the citizens walking by head their laughter, making him embarrassed every time he passed some people.

Due to Trixie's sneak attack, the stone-slayer fell face first right onto the top of the drawer. Many of the citizens heard the echoes of a painful scream that reached even the guild of Fairy Tail. After the incident, with Trixie cooking to apologize for what happened and them getting dressed, they headed out walking to Fairy Tail.

"_Sorry _doesn't get this healed up. Besides, we agreed that we wouldn't sneak when getting dressed," Rodin retorted.

"No. You agreed, not me".

"Damn cat," Rodin muttered. The unheard comment made the feline huff in annoyance, turning her head away to not even glace at the bandaged mage.

The two walked in silence for a good distance and started to both feel the guilt bubbling in their stomachs. By the time they reached the town square, they both took a moment to take a breath, then turn to one another with something to say.

"I'm sorry," they admitted at the same time.

"I didn't mean to make you fall on that thing. I just thought you would've buckled down and just fall on your knee".

"No worries, accidents happen after all".

Rodin drop on one knee, giving Trixie a hug and putting her on his shoulders. The two were quite the troublemakers for one another, but between them, they cared for each other like a brother and sister would.

With the disagreement behind them, the duo continued on towards their destination. The closer they were getting to the guild, the more Rodin started to notice a crowd beginning to form. Trixie stood up on his shoulders, trying to get a view of what was going on.

"What's up?" Rodin wondered, waiting for his partner's reply.

"No idea. All I can see is heads of people, we gotta get closer," Trixie retorted. She decided to go on ahead and jumped off to fly with her wings. This left the stone-slayer to push through the people.

With each person in front of him, it began to feel like he was in a wave of people. Despite his polite request, there were some he pushed out of the way when they remarked at him with vulgar language. The process was long, but he finally arrived at the front of the crowd, wiping the sweat from his brow that accumulated from the pushing he did.

Looking around, he saw Trixie standing in front and looking forward, but gave off an aura of shock.

"Trixie, what's wrong..."

Her partner glanced forward and realized what she was staring at, giving Rodin a look of horror. In front of him was Fairy Tail, damaged and battered like a training dummy. Large multiple pillars of iron had stabbed through the guild-hall. A total of twenty-one pillars pierced the building. Each one stabbed a structural spot that held the entire construct together, which meant that the pillars couldn't be taken out at all.

If they were, the entire building would crumble down to the ground within a matter of seconds.

The duo attempted to run in hopes of seeing if anyone was hurt, but both were grabbed by someone. Right when Rodin turned his head to yell the stranger to let go, he realized that it was Elfman.

"Elfman! You're alive!" Rodin exclaimed with joy. "What about everyone else? Did they make it out okay too?"

"Yeah, a real man can take on anything that comes at him. Also there's no worries, everyone else is safe too," the take-over mage assured the duo.

"Where are they?" Trixie added, looking around to see if they were around the area.

"Come on, I'll take you to them," Elfman replied, letting the duo go and began walking to the left side of Fairy Tail. The partners hurried along, finding the take-over mage near a cellar door, already opened by him.

* * *

_**Fairy Tail**_

_**Basement**_

The trio had begun their descent down the barely lit staircase, feeling the darkness attempt to swallow them into oblivion. The only thing that kept it at bay were the small lacrima lights. Each step echoed through the staircase, reverberating and making it sound as if a beast's stomach growled for their bodies.

Eventually they found themselves getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, literally. At the bottom of the stairs showed an open doorway, blinding light shined out into the darkness. The trio stopped in front of it, adjusting their eye sight after spending a few minutes walking in the darkness.

When they could see, Rodin and Trixie were very surprised by what was inside the basement.

Almost half the guild-hall were in that cramped space, many of them sitting on make-shift tables provided by Mira. Despite the familiar faces around them, the duo could feel the thick tension that was in the room itself.

"Man.. Who the hell could've destroyed the building like that?" Trixie muttered, looking over to Rodin with a curious look.

Before he could answer his partner, a booming voice caught his attention.

"What the hell are you guys just standing around for?!" the male voice addressed with frustration. The slayer looked around to try and pinpoint who was yelling, finding a small crowd of people around the Guild-Master. He decided to walk towards them, still listening to the conversation they were having. He stopped a few feet from him and saw some of the people standing around him.

The man yelling stood around the same height as Rodin, except for the pink wild hair on top of his head. His outfit consisted of a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat. It was open at the moment and untucked, exposing both his toned chest and stomach. His lower-half had white knee-length trousers and was wearing open-toed sandals. The one accessory he had on was a black wristband around his left wrist.

Next to the pink-haired man's leg was a small feline cat identical to Trixie in terms of size. However, the color of his fur was a light blue with what appeared to be small blushes on his cheeks, and white spot on his belly.

"How did the mission go Lucy? You took care of it like a good little girl?" the master slurred.

"Yes?" the blond-haired woman remarked with confusion. Rodin was a bit surprised that he didn't meet these guild-members before. Though with what was going on right now, he figured it was better that he introduce himself another time.

The blond-haired woman had a timid feel around her, making the stone-slayer tell that like him, she was a newcomer too. Although for him, the most distracting thing about her was how big her breasts were. The outfit she wore was a two part outfit: a blue and white button shirt, and a blue skirt to match. Her shoes were shown to be black heel boots mix that allowed for fashion but still allowed her to fight when needed. Two of her accessories were a special key pouch attached to a belt around her waist. The second was a long black whip that was holstered on the side, ready to be used at any time.

"Master, you do understand the gravity of the situation, don't you?" a scarlet-haired woman added.

Unlike the blond-haired mage, the scarlet-haired woman was wearing what seemed like heavy piece of armor around her. On the chest of her armor was the insignia for **Heart Kreuz** blacksmiths. Aside from the chest armor and gauntlets, she wore a blue skirt underneath with black heel boots like the ones the blond haired mage wore.

"The guild-hall's been trashed!" the pink-haired mage yelled out.

"There's no point worrying about it, it's not the end of the world," Makarov retorted before taking a swig of his booze. "It just goes to show you how pathetic and cowardly those Phantom Lord assholes really are. They attacked the guild-hall when it was empty".

The name Phantom Lord made Rodin remember something he read in an article about the guild that goes by that name. Sorcerer Weekly named them the second-strongest guild in Fiore, just below Fairy Tail. At one point in his travel, he was even approached by some of the members, but refused when they wouldn't allow Trixie in. His train of thought stopped when the scarlet-haired woman spoke once more.

"Nobody was in here when it happened?"

"They came in the dead of night and trashed the entire building," a voice added, making them turn to see Mira walk towards them. The bartender gave a kind smile to the duo listening to the conversation.

"Well.. I suppose since no one was hurt, everything is fine," the scarlet-haired woman admitted before leaning against a wooden pillar.

"Exactly. Let's forget about those bastards and just focus on keeping up with our jobs-"

The sound of breaking wood echoed through the basement, making everyone stop what they were doing to look at who caused the commotion. The pink-haired mage had angrily slammed his fist right through a wooden box. The force of the impact was enough to shatter it completely, even making Rodin flinch a little by how fierce the person's attack was.

"AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN GRAMPS! NO WAY IN HELL I'M LETTING THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS!" the mage bellowed out.

The entire basement fell into a hush with most now turning their attention to the group. A lot of them knew the guy had a volcanic temper, but they could never get used to him going on a rampage. Despite the demonstration of force, Makarov didn't waver on his decision.

"This discussion is over. Until the guild-hall's repaired, we'll take jobs and requests like normally," the master proclaimed bluntly.

"Damn it, who cares bout-!"

"NATSU! That's enough out of you!" Makarov bellowed in response to the mage's remark. When he stopped, his arm had already stretched out, spanking the butt of Lucy comically, making Rodin and Trixie look on with utter shock.

"How does spanking Me accomplish anything?" Lucy commented with embarrassment. A small bit of blood dripped from the stone-slayer's nose, but he managed to wipe it off before anyone saw.

"Hands to yourself master!" Mira cautioned, making the guild-master retract his arm and laugh hysterically. When he stopped, Makarov jumped off from where he was sitting and began walking past the group.

"Where the heck are you going?!" Natsu barked, causing an aura of fire to surround him.

"Ah keep your panties on. I gotta go take a leak," Makarov stated bluntly. Before leaving though, he stopped behind Rodin and pushed him forward with his giant hand. It caused him to stumble right in front of the small group that was around him before. "In the meantime, get to know the rookie".

The master left while waving with a drunken walk that followed.

"Oh sure, toss me to the lion's den," Rodin muttered, looking back to glare at the master. A cough made him turn around to see the new faces look at him with curiosity. "Uh.. Hi".

"Mira, exactly who is this person?" the scarlet-haired mage wondered, looking back to look him over once more.

"This is Rodin Clark, he and his partner are two newcomers that joined us about two days ago Erza" Mira explained. The last part of her sentence made the scarlet-haired mage look back to the stone-slayer. She gave him a suspicious glare before gripping the hilt of the blade on her hip.

"That's awfully convenient," another voice added to the conversation. The group turned to a black-haired mage that was leaning against the wall, giving off a cold aura towards Rodin. "Only two days after this guy joins, this _attack _happens? I seriously doubt that".

The new mage had no shirt on, leaving only a necklace and his guild-mark showing on his muscular figure. While he didn't wear a shirt, his lower part had dark green-fitting pants with a brown belt around it. And on his feet, he had a pair of heavy boots.

"Gray, you're not actually thinking.." Mira interjected, wanting to defend the newcomers but couldn't react fast enough.

"You bastard! You destroyed the guild-hall!" Natsu bellowed, summoning his **Fire Dragon Slayer Magic**. Once he did, the flames engulfed his right hand and made him dash forward to punch Rodin. The stone dragon slayer felt everything slow down in that instant. His fight or flight reaction kicked in and his instincts allowed him to quickly coat his left hand in stone to intercept.

Both attacks collided and made a shock-wave that knocked down some of the plates nearby the tables. However, despite his impressive power, Rodin was able to stand his ground and equally match the power to the fire mage. A few seconds of struggle came to an end when Rodin quickly grabbed the collar of Natsu's shirt, shifting his weight to send him crashing right into one of the wooden boxes, breaking it upon impact.

"Wait! Look, there's some kind of mistake. I'm not some mole!" Rodin protested, which only worked in making Natsu angrier. Though before he could rush to him, Erza stood between the two, pointing a blade to the stone-slayer with a look of anger. Due to that, Trixie intervened and transformed into her battle form to attempt a rescue of her partner.

"Erza, Natsu, calm down! Rodin is not an enemy, he's our comrade!" Mira bellowed out, releasing a dark aura that emanated from her body. It was the first time both Rodin and Trixie ever saw the kind bartender have a look of ferocity on her face. The four of them slowly lowered their guard at the bartender's wish.

"Okay.. Yes, I am a new member of Fairy Tail," Rodin began explaining. "I know it looks bad but believe me, neither me or Trixie had anything to do with this. What's more, you all saw by now, my magic deals with stone. I promise, I'm not traitor".

Both Erza and Natsu took a second to calm down and think over what Rodin had told them. Although in Natsu's case, he was more trying to think and having little success doing it. The scarlet-haired mage sheathed her sword and stared at Rodin. She went over the facts a dozen times in her mind and came to the conclusion: he was telling the truth.

"I see.. I'm sorry," Erza remarked, giving the stone dragon-slayer a disturbing facial expression with a black brooding aura around her. "I don't mean to be so protective, but it did seem rather odd".

"Eh, no biggie," the feline added, reverting back to her normal form. "Half the time anyone meets rubble brain, they think he's some kind of convicted criminal".

The four people looked at the feline, all of them gave a look of shock at the fact she just shrunk down. All except for the blue feline, who took a few steps to her and gave a curious expression on his face.

"You're like me!".

"So you must be the feline I've heard about, name's Trixie," she greeted the young cat, extending her paw.

"Aye Sir, I'm Happy," the blue-fur cat replied and shook her paw with his.

"See? I told you guys that those two are comrades," Mira stated with joy in her tone. Although Natsu scoffed at her remark and looked away in annoyance.

"Eh don't worry about him. Flame-brain always has something bugging him, nice to meet you Rodin. I'm Gray Fullbuster," he remarked and extended his hand towards the stone-slayer. The slayer gladly shook his hand and smiled.

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia," the blond-haired mage added, giving her own shake to Rodin after he finished with Gray.

"You may call me Erza, it's an honor to have you," the scarlet-haired mage announced and shook the stone-slayer's hand. "The hot-headed one is Natsu Dragneel. He may be a bit feisty, but he's a good person when you get to know him".

"I heard that!" Natsu announced, making all of them laugh at his remark. The remainder of the day for Rodin and was spent talking and interacting with the other members of Fairy Tail. They learned all sorts of things from them, especially learning about the team that Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza were in. The fun times Rodin gained eventually seemed to slowly fade when night came calling. Most of the guild-members went out of the basement to head towards their own homes for the night.

Although for Rodin and Trixie, the two of them were going to attend another party at an unusual venue.

* * *

_**Magnolia Streets**_

_**Night**_

"You know Plue, I gotta admit. Rodin and Trixie are kind of interesting," Lucy admitted with honesty. With the sun setting, the blond-haired mage figured it would be best to head on to her home. The outside turned from the gentle glow of the twilight's light into the soothing embrace of the darkness. All that lit the way for her were the lanterns on the street. Not wanting to go the way alone, she used her **Celestial Spirit Magic **and summoned her spirit, **Plue**.

The small canine was all white with an unusual simple shape to him. His paws were ordinary and his nose looked like a horn instead of a regular one. However, the most unusual thing about him was the fact he just kept shaking like he was freezing.

"Plue!" the spirit remarked, walking next to his partner.

"It's nice not being the only newcomer. Even though this whole thing with Phantom's a bit nerve-wracking, at least we know about it," she added.

Their walking eventually stopped when the pair reached their destination, Lucy's apartment building. Her home was in a two-story apartment house with red walls and a dark-brown sloping roof with two chimneys and two dormer windows. Grabbing the door key from the large ring on her hip, Lucy moved it to the front door handle. She inserted it and turned it, unlocking it and allowing her entry.

The inside of the building was like any apartment complex, having a long hallway with doors on both sides. Even though night had arrived, the sounds of chattering could be heard coming from each room. To Lucy, it was like everyone was enjoying dinner by themselves, with family, or with their other half. A couple of steps forward, she made her way towards the stairs.

Picking up her partner, the two began their trek up them.

Arriving at the last step, Lucy found herself staring into another hallway, only this time it was more silent. She saw the door to her apartment on the left-side and walked up to it.

"You know what, Plue? Even with all this craziness, there's no other place I'd rather be. Fairy Tail is like my family".

When she opened the door at the end of that sentence, a horrible surprise awaited her.

"Welcome home!" the group sitting down at her table casually announced. In her apartment, the members of her team and two extra guests were all inside and eating dinner. Although it was a cheerful greeting, Rodin and Natsu each had a different expression than joy. Natsu's was that of annoyance while Rodin's had a look of embarrassment.

"They like to show up unannounced! Why are you all here?!" Lucy blurted. After asking the question, Lucy instinctively threw the bag she was carrying. However, it only hit the fire-slayer, knocking him flat on the ground with a comical look on his face.

"Boom! He got knocked out!" Trixie slurred with joy, sitting next on an empty chair with a wine bottle in her lap.

"Uh..Is she okay?" the celestial spirit mage asked Rodin, surprised that the sarcastic feline was now the life of the party.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. Trixie just needs to get that stuff out of her system," Rodin remarked. "Also sorry for the breaking in, it was mostly Erza's idea".

The scarlet-haired mage had a smile on her face, drinking a cup of tea when he pointed to her. "I apologize for the intrusion Lucy. It wasn't intentional, but with Phantom's recent action, it was decided that we stay in groups for the time being".

"It's just a precaution," Gray added, grabbing his cup to drink. "We can guess that if they knew where our guild was. They probably also know where we all live at".

"Where we all live?!" Lucy shouted in horror.

"Yeah, Mira had us come find you and stay here. Strength in numbers after all," Gray added, taking a sip from his drink in the process.

"Guess that makes some sense.. Even so, why the hell did all of you have to come?!"

"Well, I didn't feel comfortable just having Gray and Natsu with you," Erza began to explain. "So I decided to come with them and keep an eye on things. Plus remember what the master said? This would also be a good chance to learn more about our new comrades as well".

"Ha! All we know is that stone-dick is annoying and the cat can't drink," Natsu blurted out.

All Rodin did was scoff at Natsu's remark, annoyed by the fire dragon-slayer.

At that point, Lucy decided that it was better to just go with it and do her best not to have them destroy everything. She entered her home and sat down with her comrades. In no time at all, they were all laughing with joy. Each one gave off an aura of tranquility, giving the room a sense of comfort for all of them to enjoy.

Despite the serenity within Lucy's home, Rodin couldn't immerse himself with it. His attention kept turning to the window outside, something he did when he felt like there was something wrong. He didn't know what was causing this felling for it, but he knew that from time to time, his instincts weren't always wrong.

Little did he know, that night would be the flashpoint for an upcoming war between two powerful forces.

* * *

**_Magnolia Shopping Center_**

The scorching heat that came with the afternoon was now banished by the cooling air of the night's gentle breath. Despite it being a well-known area for people to shop, it was cloaked in a heavy coat of darkness. The only source of illumination was the moon's ominous glow.

On the streets, the sounds of gentle footsteps echoed through the silence. The steps grew louder and louder until the source appeared. From the darkness, Levy McGarden, along with Jet and Droy, found themselves walking around. The trio decided to do a small patrol around the city, make sure that no one from Phantom would try anything.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Levy still had a casual aura around her, while her two partners felt somewhat more hesitant.

"You really think is is a good idea?" Jet inquired, looking around with caution.

"I really think you should've stayed with Laki and the others. At least in the dorm, you'd have better protection," Droy added.

"There's no need to worry, guys," Levy assured them. "Besides, there's no way I would want the team separated. We're in this together, always".

That single comment made the love-struck gentlemen fall backwards. Both males found themselves blushing brightly, giving a goofy grin on each of their faces.

"That's our Levy!" both proclaimed, making them jump back up with joy. The trio continued their walk to patrol, unaware of the looming danger that was close-by.

Nearby on one of the more taller buildings, two figures stood ominously in the comfort of darkness. Though after the moon's rising, the eerie light revealed them.

Angela Porla and Gajeel Redfox, two of Phantom's most well-known mages, stood there. They had arrived to Magnolia around the time Levy's group left for their mission. Since then, they studied every detail of the town.

It allowed them to find a perfect spot to lay low until the darkness returned. After that, it was a simple matter of finding the right group to stalk. And their targets were now right in front of them, like mice in a maze.

The iron-slayer dropped to a knee, eyeing them like a lion awaiting the chance to pounce.

"Amazing. Fairy tail scum is actually stupider than we thought," Gajeel blurted out with a cocky tone. "We destroy their home and now think that we're somewhere hidden? What a bunch of dumbasses".

He stopped eyeing them and looked up to his temporary partner.

"So, what's the plan princess?"

"Why ask me?" Angela retorted, keeping her attention on the trio of mages in the distance. "You heard the master, find the mages and make them suffer".

"Yikes. Remind me not to get on your bad side, but guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

That remark annoyed his partner, making her tighten her fist in rage.

"Don't get cute Gajeel. Just hurry up and get it over with. Be the good little lap dog you are-"

Her retort at his remark got silenced when she felt the cold metal blade on her neck. She moved her eyes down to see that it was Gajeel's **Iron Dragon Sword**, followed by his infamous glare.

"Careful. Call me a lap dog again and I'll carve you up nice and pretty. We'll see who's worth more to the master then".

The threat didn't make her flinch, leaving the iron-slayer to retract his sword. Right when he did, Gajeel's hunt began with him jumping off the roof and flying right on top of the trio.

With the task now taking place, all Angela could do was close her eyes and wait for it to be over. Explosions and colliding attacks reverberated, painting a picture for the mage despite her eyes being closed. The sound of the struggle finally stopped, leaving the black-haired mage to sight a breath of relief that it ended. Reopening her eyes, she saw Gajeel waving for her. Like him, she jumped and went soaring through the air before landing a few feet from him.

"Well, that was boring," the slayer admitted, yawning nonchalantly about the fight he was just in.

Before Angela could say anything, she looked towards the people that were on the floor. All three beaten to death, all with torn clothes and bleeding wounds. It was like she was staring at people that were murdered. The slayer scoffed, reading the expression his partner had on her face.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch princess, they'll live. Somewhat".

That remark earned him a punch from Angela, only her fist had a blue aura surrounding it.

"Idiot. Come on, we have to get these bodies somewhere for everyone to see".

With that, the two went towards the trio to lift them up and carry them towards a place they had found close to them. Gajeel had his hands full with the two boys, leaving Angela to carry the petite female. The last thing seen from either of them was their backs after entering the dark tunnel that Shadowgear emerged from.

The entire town of Magnolia could enjoy the peaceful sleep tonight without a care in the world. However, come tomorrow, many of them would see the light that would spark the flames of war, one that could very well shake the entire continent of Fiore itself.

* * *

_**A horrible start to the first arc, even I felt bad having to add that painful part of the story, but it must be so in order to get the full entertainment and plus, you all get to see Angela's first official part of this arc. There wasn't any reference to anything specifically aside from the name Angela, which in the marvel comics, is the name of Thor Odinson's sister. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the surprise I had for you all today, I also want to thank Damon Draco for being my first official reviewer for the series, I appreciate the words of confidence he gave me, and I hope you all are enjoying this series. I also would like to thank Last Comet for all his hard work in helping me with these, He's a wonderful beta and I'm lucky to have him. Thanks for reading and I'll see you on Chapter 7: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part 2. **_


	7. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part II

**Chapter 7**

_**Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail**_

_**Part II**_

_**Reedited**_

* * *

_**Magnolia**_

_**Nighttime**_

The cool air blew through the quiet city, gathering a small collection of dust and debris from around the area. The atmosphere around the city mirrored the inside of a cave, dark and secluded with almost no signs of life. The moon perched itself at the highest point in the sky, giving a sign that it was midnight.

Many of the citizens already found themselves in deep sleep from their exhausting day.

All except for one small group at a two-story apartment complex. The only sign of life throughout the whole town, one lit window.

Inside of that room was the small group of Fairy Tail mages, who after the attack on their guild, decided to bunk together for protection.

* * *

**_Lucy's Apartment_**

**_Inside_**

The wide-awake group found themselves trying to pass the time after eating their big dinner. Natsu found himself taking a nap, snoring softly while lying his head on the table. Sitting next to his head, his partner Happy had begun eating some of the leftover fish.

On the desk, Gray immersed himself into a story that he found in one of the drawers. All he focused on was what the story was delivering, keeping him in suspense the more he continued reading.

Erza, who took a bath not too long ago, sat down on top of Lucy's bed with a look of serenity. Her appearance consisted of two towels, one covering her hair and another around her waist. All she was doing was enjoying the comfort of the soft mattress.

Trixie found herself lying down next to the scarlet haired mage, out cold and hugging the bottle of watermelon wine. It was empty yet she held it tight like there was still some in there.

Rodin found himself sitting down in one of the nearby corners. After finally getting into the swing of this small party, he ate and enjoyed the time. The silence gave him the perfect change to do some mediation.

The quiet atmosphere soon broke when the sound of an open door and footsteps emerged. From the door to the bathroom, it opened to reveal Lucy, who had finish taking a bath of her own.

From her regular attire, she now donned a simple white tank-top and pink sweats. Behind her was her celestial spirit partner, Plue. Though he seemed a bit more loose than the others, which resulted in his head almost deflating from the relaxing that he endured.

"Okay Natsu, you're up, I'm all done with my bath," She stated to the fire dragon-slayer.

All he did was snore once more, leaving him unresponsive.

"How about you Gray? You up for taking a bath?"

The black-haired male simply shook his head and continued reading.

"Rodin? How about you?"

The stone dragon-slayer opened his eyes and looked over to the blond-haired girl. "Oh, thanks for the offer Lucy, but no thanks. Me and Trixie won't be staying here much longer actually".

Both Lucy and Erza gave a confused look at each other, then back to the man on the floor.

"Is that such a good idea? You know that-" Erza began explaining, but found herself cut off when Rodin stood up and stretched.

"Yeah I know about Phantom Lord, but the thing is, I hadn't told anyone about where we would be staying. Even if they knew about us, only person that knows the location is Makarov," Rodin interjected.

In some way, what they suggested made sense to the two girls, making them seem less worried about their decision.

Lucy made her way to the table, pulling out a chair and looking around her neighborhood. She had an annoyed look on her face by how her friends easily made themselves at home. Though she didn't feel that way towards Rodin and Trixie.

"Geez, glad the rest of you are all feeling so comfortable here," Lucy stated.

"Haha. Well I suppose I should get dressed properly," Erza replied to Lucy's remark.

Standing up from the bed, her body suddenly starting to glowing entirely with a blinding yellow light. From the glow, a magic circle manifested itself into the bottom of her feet. After a few seconds the glowing stopped, revealing that Erza had now changed from the towels she had on to a purple pajama top and bottom with miniature sword designs on it.

"Is this more fitting?".

"Is that really how you change your clothes?!" Lucy yelled in shock, leaving Rodin to look at her in awe.

The stone dragon-slayer had seen some interesting forms of magic before, but never something like that. He made his way to an empty chair and sat down.

"What exactly was that? Some form of magic?" Rodin asked with curiosity.

"Ah yes, seeing as how today was our first meeting, you wouldn't know what kind of magic I could use. What you saw was magic known as **Requip**, it allows me to open up a special pocket dimension where I can store just about anything, and switch them when I need them," Erza explained.

Rodin started thinking now about what other surprises Fairy Tail had. He knew that the guild had quite a collection of individual mages. Even so, he didn't know what half of them could do.

His curiosity soon stopped when he heard Lucy clear her throat.

"Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but I wanted to ask you something Erza. Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue like that?" Lucy inquired.

Rodin also turned to Erza, wondered the same thing.

"I'm afraid not, we have had our fair share of scuffles in the past. Yet this is something that hasn't happened before," Erza answered in a serious tone.

"If Gramps wasn't so scared of them, we could wipe out those punks once and for all," Natsu added angrily.

The group looked at him with surprise, thinking that he was still sleeping.

"Since when are you awake?" Lucy wondered.

"Come on, you know master isn't afraid of them Natsu. You seem to forget that he's a member of the **Ten Wizard Saints**," Gray added.

Lucy gave a look back to Gray, suddenly realizing what he had in her hand.

"I never gave you permission to read that! Gimmie!" Lucy blurted out. She quickly stood up and went to grab the manuscript from his hands.

"You can't snatch that out of my hands. Not without at least telling what happens next," Gray complained.

"Yes I can. I promised Levy she'd the first to read it so you're just going to have to wait," Lucy huffed. She held the book tightly against her chest.

Erza cleared her throat and extended her hand out, insinuating that she wanted a chance to read it herself.

"You're not getting it either!" Lucy protested, putting her work somewhere safe and away from wandering eyes.

Seeing what happened, Rodin gave an honest laugh at how they all reacted.

"So what's with these **Ten Wizard Saints** anyway?" Lucy inquired.

"It's suppose to be this very special title," Rodin commented before Erza could speak. The reply made the others look to him with curiosity. "Its given by the **Magic Council** to ten individual mages worthy of it, all of them considered to be the strongest in all of Fiore".

"Really?" Lucy blurted out in surprise at what he heard.

"Phantom Lord's Master, Jose, is one of the Wizard Saints himself," Happy added, finishing the fish.

_"Yes that's true, and so is he..," _Erza muttered softly. She began to picture a mental image of a blue-haired person with whom she knew from the past. All that she pictured was the sadistic smile that was plastered on his face.

A hand suddenly slammed on the table, causing everyone to see a look of irritation on Natsu's face. They could tell the conversation was getting him irritated. "He's afraid, the old man's scared that Phantom's got too many members for us to handle".

"Could you please use your inside voice?" Lucy requested timidly, trying to calm him down. She knew how bad his temper was and wanted to avoid having to find another apartment building.

"That is not true and you know it," Gray retaliated. A sharp pain entered his body, making him hold his arm close to his bandaged chest. "It's just like Master and Mira said before, the consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here".

"But I don't understand why, are they that strong?" Lucy questioned.

"They ain't got nothing on us, we can take those clowns," Natsu boasted with confidence.

"No. If we were to engage them in battle, neither side would survive," Erza admitted, making Rodin looked on with concern in silence.

Due to his status, he felt like there wasn't much he could add himself. Especially considering the fact that not everyone trusted his opinion.

"Phantom's Master, **Jose Porla**, is a member of the Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with our own Master, Makarov. They've also got an elite group of mages similar to our S-class called the **Element** **4**.Though, despite all of that, their most powerful asset is said to be **Black Steel Gajeel**. I believe he was the one who destroyed the guild hall and is known as the **Iron Dragon Slayer**".

"He's a Dragon Slayer too?! I thought Natsu was the only one?!" Lucy questioned with shock in her tone.

The fire dragon-slayer simply scoff at Erza's remark, annoyed by the fact that he wasn't the only dragon slayer around.

That single sentence caused a shift in the air around Rodin, making some of them look over towards the disturbance. Each one gave a look of surprise by how he looked. Plastered on his face was the look of seriousness that left some people shaking with fear. For them however, they only felt surprised by the change their new comrade had.

"A third dragon-slayer huh," Rodin commented. They all gave a confused expression, leading them to wonder what that had to do with him.

"What do you mean by that Rodin?" Erza asked, feeling that the guy was hiding something.

"Well, in a way, I guess the best thing would be to say that I'm similar to Natsu and that iron prick," Rodin answered honestly. He stood up from his chair and went towards his backpack. After opening it and pulling out his black-silk bag, he reached in to pull out a gray-colored rock. It was longer than his middle finger, but the size was that of a small mouse.

"Although, stone's much more powerful than iron or fire in my opinion".

With that, he easily demonstrated his magic and easily bit off a piece of the rock. It made them all realize what he meant by being similar to the other two dragon slayers.

"You're a dragon-slayer too?!" Everyone exclaimed with shock. All he did was nod before sitting back down. The group never expected that the new addition to Fairy Tail was another dragon slayer. Mostly due to the fact that Rodin didn't act like a typical one.

"Yes, more specifically, the **Stone Dragon-Slayer**," He admitted. After finish the rock, he turned to see Natsu giving a glare. His fists tightening and the aura around him beginning to burn.

"Listen up rock head!" Natsu yelled in annoyance. He stood up and looked Rodin right in the eye before continuing to speak. "There's only room for one Slayer in the guild, and that's me! So find your own thing and get lost!".

Erza was about to speak out when Rodin stood up to Natsu's level with his eyes now glaring back.

"Get this through that thick skull of your's flame brain. I'm part of the guild whether you like it or not, and I'm a dragon-slayer whether you like it or not, so you can just shut up and deal with it," He declared.

The air around them grew tense each second, making the others look on with worry about what might happen. Erza knew this feeling before, one that symbolized a challenge between two powerful forces. It engulfed her more times than she could count.

She knew that if no one stepped in, both would try to defeat one another. On that day, fate smiled down on Erza.

As if answered by a prayer, the clock began to chime, signaling the time change from midnight to twelve-ten. Rodin stopped his staring contest with Natsu, realizing that it was late.

"We'll settle this another time. I better get going to my apartment to catch some sleep for the job requests I want to do tomorrow". He acknowledged.

Before going to grab his stuff, Rodin turned to Lucy and bowed.

Lucy, again I'm sorry for coming in uninvited," Rodin apologized. The blond-haired mage raised her eyebrow in surprise. It was the first time anyone had actually apologized for breaking into her apartment.

"It's fine really, I know it wasn't intentional," Lucy replied to the stone dragon-slayer, making him smile and nod.

He went to grab the bag he brought and walked to Trixie, gently picking her up and carrying her like an infant in his arms. He put away the silk bag into his jacket pocket and walked to the front door. Grabbing the handle, Rodin pulled it down and pushed forward, entering the third floor hallway. After closing it, he made his way downstairs with ease.

Exiting the building and going on the streets, the stone dragon-slayer felt the cool air press against his face and felt relief from being out of Lucy's cramped apartment. Due to moments in his past where he found himself buried under rubble, he grew up liking open spaces a lot more.

His attention dropped down to the feline in his arms, who still had the empty bottle in her hand. Rodin couldn't help but chuckle at her position. The two began their long trek back to their home, wanting to enjoy the sweet comfort of their own bed.

Although, when they woke up, both would be introduced to the dark side of being part of a guild. A lesson that would be etched into their minds for years to come.

* * *

_**Oak Town**_

_**Phantom Lord Guild Hall**_

The atmosphere of the guild was one of darkness and malice with most of the light in the room produced only by small candles. Each one placed on the tables across the entire guild's main hall. In the far corner, Gajeel Redfox had sat down, far away from everyone else with only plates of iron in front of him. The light on his table illuminated his face, revealing a large amount of scrap metal he was chewing in his mouth.

His serenity in the darkness broke when a random mage came towards him.

"So Gajeel, I heard you made a mess of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall," He began.

The iron dragon-slayer did his best to simply ignore him, focusing on enjoying his meal.

"Oh man! I wish I could've seen that, they probably ran home crying to their mommies. _Oh no, someone broke our club house-_"

The man's rambling stopped abruptly when a large iron club stretching forward, hitting the man right on the cheek. All that could be seen by the others was a figure in the darkness flying across the hall.

The reaction made most of Phantom Lord break out in sadistic laughter.

"How many times have I told you?! I don't like people bugging when I'm eating!" Gajeel roared out. He stood up and glared at the man on the floor. "I don't care what those scumbags did, all I know is they ain't got a chance in hell of challenging us".

"The die has been cast," a voice proclaimed in the darkness. Every mage there turned their attention to the stairs, looking towards a figure. Gajeel released his iron club, turning his hand back to normal and walked towards the figure. "I compliment your excellent work Gajeel".

"I didn't think we were hard enough on them, so with the princess's help, I decided to leave them a little something as well: A present, that's sure to get their panties in a knot" Gajeel replied sadistically. He stopped there and saw the figure, realizing that it was Jose Porla, Phantom's Guild-Master.

"Excellent work my boy, and you as well my dear. All goes according to plan, but be sure to remember our goal. No harm must come to the target of our client's request," He addressed to them them.

Gajeel gave him a look of excitement after hearing it, wanting more action.

"Meanwhile, Angela, gather two of the **Element 4 **and go to Magnolia. You three will be picking up our special guest and bringing her to me, alive and unharmed, understood?" He stated.

"Yes Father," Angela acknowledged, bowing to her father.

After his declaration, she headed upstairs, secretly hoping that someone had already found the team that Gajeel defeated. All she could hope was that her small action would give them a chance to survive.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_"Geez, this was a shit-job after all," Gajeel uttered in boredom._

_After defeating Team Shadowgear without trouble, the duo went to South Gate Park with their prisoners. At Gajeel's suggestion, he and Angela hung the trio on the biggest tree there. The only thing keeping them up were iron staples the slayer wrapped around their arms, pelvis, and legs. To add insult to injury, Angela painted the guild-mark of Phantom for all to see._

_"Quit complaining. We're already done with this, so no big deal," Angela retorted._

_"Whatever, I'm over this," Gajeel stated before beginning his walk back to their guild._

_The black-haired female stayed behind to look over everything, making sure all the preparations was complete. However, she had another agenda in mind. After making sure her partner was far away from listening distance, she quickly took out a piece of paper with a pencil. Angela scribbled down a few things and pinned it right on the tree._

_With her task finished, she bowed in forgiveness and rushed out to catch up with Gajeel._

* * *

**_Present_**

**_Third Floor_**

A few minutes of walking, she ended up at the guild's lounge and library area on the third floor. Looking around the area, two of her targets came into view. Two members of the **Element 4 **sitting in different areas.

Near the window, one member looked on to the window, seeing the rain pouring down on it.

The member was a pale young woman with blue long hair, tightly curled at the base. She had on a navy blue coat, a fur shawl with a _teru teru bōzu_ attached to it. She also had on a tall cossack hat on her head.

The other member, located at one of the tables, was an adult male with a tiny, pointy, mustache and green hair pointing upwards.

He had on a unique attire on. The man sported a monocle on his right eye. His formal attire consisted of a brown suit with a ragged collar. It bared six prominent protrusions jutting outwards, three on each side, over a white shirt paired with a black tie plus a cape.

The two heard a whistle, turning to spot Angela waving them over to her. A few seconds of walking, both members stood in front of her, bowing in respect.

"The master is assigning the three of us to retrieve a target immediately," Angela stated. "We're to head over to Magnolia, capture but to do not harm, understood?"

The two nodded in agreement.

With the team now assembled, they exited their guild and departed towards their objective.

* * *

_**Early Morning**_

_**Magnolia**_

The morning fog set down at every corner and alley of Magnolia, delivering a calm and soothing atmosphere for those who awoke early for their jobs. Some were needed for attending the community gardens. Others had planned early morning trips.

After an hour passed, the once dense fog disappeared with the arrival of the sun rising. It's piercing light shined through the clouds, parting the fog to reveal the path. One path in particular lead the city caretaker to **South Gate Park**.

Walking the path, he eventually found himself right at the entrance, seeing the morning dew shine from the grass itself. He took a deep breath and exhaled, enjoying the smell of grass.

However, when he walked into the park, his happy morning would turn to horror at what he discovered.

He found three badly beaten people stuck on the tree, all of them having unconscious. He felt his body shake with shock, trying hard to yell out but finding it almost difficult. His attention then turned to the young girl's stomach, seeing the emblem of Phantom Lord and a note stuffed into her pants.

Mustering what courage he could gather, the caretaker moved his hand towards it. He grabbed it and pulled it out, trying his best to open it despite his hands shaking like crazy. All the note said was:

**_Call Fairy Tail, get help_**

With what the note asked, the caretaker dropped it and took off running with all his strength. All that could be heard was his cries for help echoing through the town, unaware of the disappearing letter that he left behind.

* * *

**_One Hour Later_**

The familiar duo of Rodin Clark and Trixie could be seen walking down the streets, enjoying the sun shining down on them. Although for the feline, she appeared to have one mother of a hangover. Each person that walked by saw her riding piggyback her partner's backpack.

Rodin on the other hand, had a smug smile on his face when he heard Trixie moan for someone to kill her.

"I told you to take it easy with that stuff. You know what it does to you," Rodin commented.

"Shut up. when the store's selling watermelon wine, you know I splurge on it," Trixie replied with annoyance. The reply made her cover her mouth with her paw, not wanting to throw-up last night's dinner.

"Yeah, that's why we never go near those places..." Rodin began explaining, but stopped when they were getting close to the park.

The duo noticed that there was quite a large crowd in that part of town, making them wonder why so many were there this early in the morning. Curiosity got the best of Rodin, making him walk towards the place to see what all the fuss was about. Upon arriving, all he could hear from the crowd were murmurs.

Trixie decided to get a better view and fly over the crowd, while Rodin made his way through.

The slayer pushed his way through, trying his best to politely ask people to move for him. He caught a glimpse of his partner landing near the front and hurried his pace. Finally, he reached the front of the crowd and looked to his partner on the ground.

However, the slayer saw horror plastered on Trixie's face.

"Trixie? Are you okay?" Rodin asked, getting only her pointing forward as a response.

Rodin followed her arm, looking right at the tree, giving the same look Trixie had on. All he could see was his close friends stapled to the tree, all three of them covered in dry blood and wounds.

"LEVY! JET! DROY!" Rodin yelled in horror.

Tossing his bag to the side, the slayer summoned up his scales on his hands. Claws poked out his fingertips, allowing him to climb up the tree towards them in a hurry. He stopped at Levy, lifting her head gently and looking at her unconscious face with guilt.

"Don't worry, I'll get you all off of here," Rodin whispered, grabbing the staple on her arm. With all his strength, he gripped and pulled it, feeling the nails coming loose until they popped off. Without the staple, her arm dropped down to her side. He did the same thing to the rest of the staples and caught her before she fell.

Rodin dropped down with Levy in his arms and placed her gently on the ground. He went up and did the same with Jet and Droy.

"I need someone to call Fairy Tail Now!" Rodin yelled out

"Someone already sent word, the master will be here soon," One of them remarked, making Rodin nod in thanks.

All the slayer could do was stare in disbelief at what he was in front of him. Team Shadowgear, the very first people that helped him and Trixie, were all hurt badly and unconscious. For Rodin, any time someone helped him with something big, they earned his respect and loyalty. He got down on one knee to look at the three of them.

"Don't worry guys. I'll find whoever did this to you, and annihilate them from the face of the **Earthlands**," Rodin muttered in anger.

The sounds of rushing footsteps could be heard coming towards his direction, making Rodin turn his head to see everyone making way for Makarov and Mira. Both saw that Rodin had gotten the trio down and rushed to his side. Mira gave a quick look over, trying to assess their injuries and how bad they were. The rest of Fairy Tail, including the group Rodin was with last night, stayed back to look on with anger plastered on their faces. All except for Lucy, who had tears coming down her face.

"How bad is it?" Makarov asked, looking to Mira.

"It's very serious. I can't make heads or tails on what they have at all, they need serious medical attention," the bartender remarked.

"...Phantom Lord did this..." Natsu whispered in anger, trying his best not to lose control.

Makarov stood there in shock, looking down at the three with shadows covering his eyes. His children looked on, wondering what he was thinking about right that second.

"Master..." Erza muttered, waiting for any kind of response.

"I can take our Headquarters being reduced to rubble," Makarov began to say, causing Rodin to suddenly felt the spike of magic energy starting to crawl up from the master. The area around him began to slowly shake, getting more intense with the aura glowing more brightly. "But I will not let harm come to my children without taking REVENGE! We have no choice but to go to WAR!"

The master's bellowing triggered a shaking that could almost be categorized as an earthquake, causing most of the citizens to run away in fear. Although the others had already known the master's terrible power, Rodin still found himself sweating and shaking from the experience. In all his life, he had never felt such raw power, it was second only to his own grandmother.

The emergency response team of Magnolia hospital appeared on the road. They exited their vehicle and rushed over with three stretchers. After securing them safely on, they transported them to the vehicles and drove off, heading towards Magnolia Hospital.

The rest of Fairy Tail just stood there, brooding over what had happened to three of their fellow comrades. All they knew was that their master declared war, which meant that there would be a powerful storm coming. All they could do was be ready for when it hit.

* * *

**_Road to Oak Town_**

Several members of Fairy Tail, including Makarov himself, all left the town of Magnolia to make their way to Phantom's Guild Hall. The air around them had a heavy tension, which left most of them being silent during their trek there. Most were furious at what happened, but none of them could match the fierce anger that Natsu had. With each step he took, the ground beneath him lit on fire, making some a bit anxious for the fight.

However, near the far back, Rodin didn't have any sense of anger or frustration. All he could think about was what happened after they went to the hospital, thinking back on what the doctor told them.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Magnolia **_**_Hospital_**

_"They're stable for the most part," the doctor replied to Makarov and his children._

_Only a handful of Fairy Tail mages had gone to the hospital, each of them being Team Shadowgear's closest friends and allies. Though upon arrival, they couldn't see their friends for long. Only a few could go in and visit them._

_ After seeing them, they were forced out by the doctor, who was now talking to Makarov about their situation. "We managed to stabilize them and keep them comfortable. Though for now, we must keep them here until we can be sure nothing is permanent"._

_"I understand doctor. Just...thank you for all that you've done for my children," the guild-master remarked. _

_They both bowed to each other, leaving the doctor to walk away and go check on his other patients. _

_"I can't believe this is happening," Lucy whispered with tears in her eyes._

_"No one could've seen this coming. We didn't expect Levy and the others to be blind-sided by those bastards," Rodin added. Before he could say anything else, Natsu had already gotten up from his chair, walking right to meet Rodin._

_The two now stared face-to-face with one another, both wanting to hit the other._

_"Don't talk like you know our beef with Phantom Lord, asshole!" Natsu yelled out in frustration._

_"Screw you!" Rodin replied in anger. He pushed the fire dragon-slayer away from him before he continued. "Don't forget, it was me that got them down and helped them, Where the hell were you at, bastard?!"_

_ Both glared at each other with anger, getting ready to fight with each other and settle their dispute once and for all. _

_Before they could get it on, one large hand stretched forward and gripped them both. The hand began putting the squeeze on both of them, making them struggle to get out of the master's grip. _

_"Show some respect you two! We're in a hospital, and Natsu, leave Rodin alone! If it wasn't for him, Levy and the others would've been much worse off," He commanded Natsu. _

_He released the two slayers after they calmed down, leaving Natsu to scoff at his fellow slayer before moving away from him. _

_"The Master is right. We owe you so much Rodin," Erza acknowledged with Gray and Lucy added a nod.  
_

_That remark made Rodin feel happy, something he hadn't felt in a long while. "Anything for my fellow guild-mates"._

_"So, what exactly do we do now Master?" Trixie asked with concern, making Makarov turned his head towards her._

_"I'll be taking some of our strong members of Fairy Tail with me to Oak Town. We're busting down Phantom's door and teaching those bastards a lesson they'll never forget"._

_The master's cold tone sent shivers down the feline's spine._

_"In the meantime, Lucy, I need you and Trixie to stay in the hospital with Levy and the others. Help the doctor out in anyway, but most importantly, make sure to protect them"._

_Both girls turned to the master and nodded in agreement._

_"The rest of you get ready, we leave for our destination as soon as possible," He announced, walking out of the waiting room._

_The rest followed their leader, except for Rodin, Trixie, and Lucy. The trio went walking to Team Shadowgear's room, opening the door softly to see them covered from head to toe in bandages. Each of them appeared to be in a deep sleep with peaceful looks on their faces despite the horror's they endured._

_Lucy went to one of the chairs close to the window, turning her head to look at them. "Droy...Jet...and Poor Levy," She began with tears pooling in her eyes once more again. "Phantom Lord is heartless, how could they do this?"_

_The celestial spirit mage looked in the distance to the guild-hall, still broken and destroyed by their hated enemies. All she could think about was how much longer this would last? And if anything could stop them._

_"They're nothing but cowards who would do anything to get what they want, even at the price of lives," Rodin answered Lucy. The girl could see his fists tightened with rage, enough to cause a small bit of blood to drip down. "I should've gone with them, if I did-"  
_

_"You would've gotten hurt as well trying to save them. Rodie, even you can't do everything alone," Trixie added before he could finish his sentence._

_"Doesn't make up for the fact I shouldn't have left anyone from Fairy Tail alone"._

_Lucy looked at Rodin with sadness, feeling that he was being too hard on himself. She was going to agree with the feline, but stopped when she noticed him taking out his black silk bag in his jacket pocket. Opening it, the Slayer pulled out three different shaped black stones he kept inside of it. Walking up to the trio's beds, he put each one of the rocks near their heads._

_After he completed his task, Rodin closed his eyes and put his hands together._

_"What are those?" Lucy inquired._

_"My grandmother once told me that these special rocks had a magic beyond normal understanding. If you put them next to someone who's sick, it could heal them and keep them safe," He remarked. "In truth, I knew she only did it to keep me hopeful. Though in this situation , a little hope isn't a bad thing". _

_"I think so too," Trixie added, bowing in the same manner as Rodin._

_"Well, here's hoping that our friends get better," Lucy added, mimicking what Rodin and Trixie did._

_The nurse came in, telling them that only two people could stay. The stone dragon-slayer said his goodbyes and made his way to the door. Before he left though, Rodin gave a worried look to both girls sitting down._

_"Trixie, Lucy, please be careful. I don't want anymore of my friends getting hurt." Rodin begged, secretly hoping that nothing bad happened to them. _

_After finding his way through the main entrance, he stopped outside the door and exhaled a breath of frustration. Even with what his friends told him, Rodin couldn't help but feel guilty with what happened. He knew that the iron dragon-slayer would pay for what did, even if it meant him becoming something he never wanted to be, a killer. _

* * *

**_Present_**

Rodin's train of thought came to an end when someone tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to stop and look around. Without realizing it, he found that they all had finally reached their destination. The small army of Fairy Tail now stood at the fortress of their enemies, **Phantom Lord**. Before making their charge, Makarov looked up to the flag of their enemy with hatred.

He summoned up his **Fire Magic**, generating a fireball in the palm of his hand. Without any hesitation, he threw it with such force, that it incinerated the flag in one burst.

The signal came and sounded the attack.

Natsu took point, crashing right through the front door with his entire body engulfed in fire. With the sound of crashing, all mages inside the guild stopped what they were doing. Many turned their attention to whoever they thought was dumb enough to attack them.

That action was soon regretted.

"FAIRY TAIL HAS COME CALLING!" Makarov roared out.

Both sides yelled out a war cry and collided with one another, beginning the battle between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail.

Both sides went directly on the offensive, colliding with one another and hitting each other with their magic. Natsu had found himself in a swarm, but easily dispatched them with his magic, sending them flying away without any trouble.

On another side of Phantom's Guild hall, Rodin was on the offensive. He slammed down his fist into the ground, causing an uproot wave of bricks to emerge and spread outward. The impact of the wave sent a large group of enemies to fly in all different directions.

His attack didn't stop there, focusing his magic again and coating his entire body in scales. The remaining enemies around him took the chance to launch their individual spells.

Many flew and collided together onto their target, creating a large explosion.

Their cheers suddenly stopped when a figure rushed out at high speed. Within seconds, many mages felt a surprise attack delivered. It sent most of them flying in many different directions.

Rodin stopped his attack when he felt a rumbling that vibrated throughout the entire building. When he turned over to where the shaking was coming from, the look on his face turned from one of anger to one of shock.

The kind master of Fairy Tail now stood at nearly four times his own height. It was like he stared at the face of an enraged giant. Shaking his head, Rodin left to continue his fight and leave the master to his own ordeal.

"He's a monster!" one mage yelled in fear. The large crowd attempted to scatter away, but most found themselves caught in the giant's attack.

"**And you dared to lay a hand on this monster's children! Are you all foolish enough to believe any of you won't endure my WRATH!?**" The master yelled demonically.

After finishing off another squad the stone dragon-slayer turned around to see how everyone else was doing. All he could see were legions of enemies sent flying by his allies. It began to stir something in Rodin he hadn't felt before, a competitive drive. He found himself not wanting to get left behind and took in a deep breath, releasing his **Stone Dragon's Roar** spell.

With one shot, he managed to break away a large faction, breaking down part of the guild-hall in the process.

Close by, Natsu noticed what his fellow dragon-slayer was trying to do. He gave a quick grin and mimicked his action, not wanting to get shown up by someone he found annoying.

"**Fire Dragon's Roar!**"

The blast spread widely across the hall to hit a large squad of enemies. Each of them felt intense pain from the incredible heat that Natsu's fire produced before falling from the attack.

"**JOSE! SHOW YOURSELF!**" Makarov bellowed in rage. His attention at the moment was trying to locate where Phantom's Guild-Master was hiding.

Close to him, Erza had requipped herself into a new armor, her **Flame Empress Armor**.

The new attire consisted of her hair in ponytails with a flame-colored armor that had separate sections. Her forearms had two gauntlets that had spikes on the front. Her chest piece reached down to where her pelvis was, having flame-like designs on it. On both her feet, leggings reached down from her thigh to her toes, and had armor pieces covering her entire foot.

**"Tell me! Where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4?!" **Erza ordered.

In one swing from her sword, Fire Magic produced on the blade. When it collided with the crowd, they all received a deadly wound from her.

Both Rodin and Natsu eventually found themselves back-to-back, surrounded by a large crowd of phantom mages. They yelled out and went charging to them in hopes of destroying both dragon-slayers.

"Geez Matchstick! Could you be any slower? I'm getting all the grunts coming towards Me!" Rodin yelled out.

Focusing magic energy through the scales, it caused them to shed off his arms and float in mid-air. He extended his hand forward, controlling them in the process, and flung them at the enemy.

A barrage of scales hit half the crowd, knocking them unconscious. One small group found themselves sent right into the bar, breaking down the shelves and bottles upon impact

The remaining mages looked at the duo with fury in their eyes.

"Who are you calling Matchstick, Rubble-Brain!" Natsu retorted, sending a fire ball that knocked out the rest.

"I think I'm starting to like this guy. He comes up with great insults," a voice added. It revealed itself as Gray, who jumped back to where the two were. In front of him was another squad rushing forward.

"You got time to make jokes? Hurry up and take them down, stripper!" Rodin remarked with sarcasm.

Gray chuckled when the slayer spoke, making him take his stance and put his fist on his open hand. A blue magic circle emerged beneath him, causing ice to form in mid-air.

"**Ice-Make:** **Arrows!**"

The ice-mage swung his hands diagonally, causing the ice forming to fly forward. Each one took the shape of an arrow, hitting their marks. Many of the mages yelled in pain, finding themselves with ice freezing their bodies.

The three went their separate ways, going towards the rest of Phantom's army. All seemed right for Fairy Tail, each of them feeling like the battle was going their way.

Even so, they did not feel the brooding eyes that spied on them from the support beams of the building. It showed to be Gajeel, who stood with his arms crossed in amusement.

"Huh, so Fairy Tail only brought one of their big guns: the legend herself, Titania Erza. I'm guess Mystogen and Laxus were to chicken to come, or did they not care?" Gajeel muttered to himself.

He started having second thoughts about whether Jose's plan was working at all.

"No way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was gonna turn out. Even if the fairies fight good, they're still a bunch worthless fools".

His muttering stopped when the iron dragon-slayer noticed that Makarov had shrunk down to his normal size. The Wizard-Saint made his way through the crowd with ease, and began to walk up the stairs.

"ERZA! I'm leaving the riff-raff to you!" He yelled out.

"Yes sir!" Erza acknowledged, hitting another group in her way. "Please be careful Master...".

"Jose is probably lurking on the top floor. When I find him, there'll be Hell to pay," the master muttered in anger.

When he found himself blocked by the door, Makarov's eyes glowed bright yellow. Within seconds, the entire door shattered with only one glace. Almost as if it feared the wrath of the old man.

Gajeel gave a sadistic grin when Makarov continued forward.

"Now that their little boss man is out of the way, It's about time I threw myself into this," Gajeel laughed with excitement. Jumping off from where he was, he found himself dive bombing right into the battlefield.

While the fight continued between both mages, back in Magnolia, events slowly came into play that would give the newly declared war meaning.

* * *

_**Magnolia Market**_

The streets of the town had become silent like a graveyard. Where there was cheerful banter and life, now stood emptiness and sorrow. Many of the citizens found themselves leaving the streets, heading back to their homes in fear.

Many knew that something was coming.

Nearby at one of the local markets, Lucy and Trixie had found themselves shopping. Due to visiting hours at the hosptial being over that day. The duo decided it was better to keep their mind off things.

"Thank you for your patronage," The merchant kindly told them. He handed the blond-haired mage the bag of food. She thank him in response and walked away. Trixie followed behind, holding a small bag of her own.

"Ugh, I can't believe everyone just took off without us," Lucy proclaimed in annoyance. "Still.. Someone's gotta take care of Levy and the boys, guess that someone is us, right?"

Trixie nodded in agreement.

"True enough, I just hope that they'll be alright,especially Rodin," she wondered.

Lucy look down at the feline with a smug look.

"You're not all cold-heart huh?" Lucy jested with a smile.

"Bah! I'd sooner drink toilet water than care if he was okay," the feline retorted. "He's too much of a block-head without me anyway".

The celestial-spirit mage heard a hint of embarrassment with Trixie's statement. It made her laugh, making the feline look away to keep her friend from seeing her blushing face.

"Aww. I didn't know you cared"

Their conversation abruptly stopped when the sky turned dark and it started raining.

"Wait a minute. Why is it raining only here?" Lucy asked with confusion.

Trixie was about to remark when the sounds of footsteps splashed on the water that pooled on the floor. The duo turned their heads forward to see a figure walking towards them.

When the figure came closer, the duo saw it to be blue-hared pale woman in front of them. She showed to have an oddly-shaped pink umbrella covering her head.

"Drip, drip drop," the female muttered.

"Who are you?" Lucy inquired, getting a strange feeling from the newcomer.

Trixie quickly turning into her humanoid form. Unlike Rodin, the feline had a more natural sense of being able to tell when there was trouble. For her, she took one look at the woman and knew something was off.

"Juvia is the rain one, it's always with me," The woman stated. She started getting closer to the two, "What kind of woman are you?"

"I'm the regular kind?" Lucy uttered in confusion. She didn't know how else to respond.

"I'm the one who doesn't like strangers, especially ones who just appeared out of nowhere," Trixie declared.

Their remarks didn't affect the girl one way or another. All Juvia did was pass them by, giving an indication that she was ignoring them.

"Drip, drip drop," Juvia repeated. "It was nice meeting you two, I'll be going now".

"WELL TAKE THE RAIN WITH YOU!" both girls shouted in annoyance.

"_No, no, no, no no no, no no no no no no_" Another voice echoed through the area.

Lucy and Trixie looked around where they were, trying to figure out who was talking. A eerie sloshing sound soon made it's way, making the two of them turn back to Juvia.

She had stopped and next to her, the ground began to morph itself like it was water. It rippled across the ground, causing a being to pop out. The being moved like a snake, twisting and turning until it eventually calmed down, solidifying itself into a humanoid shape. After a few more seconds, the shape gained an outer appearance, followed by color.

The two found themselves now staring at a pale man, wearing a monocle and a brown suit.

"I bid you bojur, _mademoiselles_," The man addressed to them with a heavy french accent.

"Great, another weirdo?!" Lucy huffed out. The feline stayed her ground, eyeing them to see why they were there.

"Juvia, _un moment ma chère._ You mustn't shy away from the task at hand," the man advised her. His unusual movement made him move left and right when he spoke out.

"Yes, _monsieur Sol_," she replied.

"My monocle tells me many things _ma chère._ It tells me that this _mademoiselle _before us is the _cible_ we seek".

"Does it? So she is the one?"

_"Cible, that means target,_" Lucy realized. The celestial-spirit mage began taking a step back, trying not to make it look obvious.

"Ah _Je suis désolé_, I have not told you my name. I am Sol of the **Element 4**, also known as **Sol of the Earth**, but it'd behoove you to call me _monsieur Sol,_" He informed them.

"I've heard of the **Element 4**, you guys are with Phantom!" the blond-haired mage blurted out. By that point, Trixie made her way in front of Lucy, hissing at the two with anger.

"Ah, _Tre Bien_, correct. The two of us have orders to collect and bring you back to the guild at once," Sol remarked. "My main _compagnon_ is a rain woman who is also part of the **Element 4**. Her name is **Juvia Lockser**, also titled, **Juvia of the Great Sea**".

Hearing their statement, Lucy dropped the groceries on the ground. Her first instinct was to grab one of her spirit keys to fight them. Moving past Trixie, she glared at them with rage.

"You're the ones who attacked my friends! Aren't you?!" She bellowed out.

Her answer did not come due to the water beneath her feet began to move. In a matter of seconds, Lucy found herself encased in a sphere of water.

"Lucy!" the feline yelled.

"Aw _Contrare mademoiselle_, a reasonable guess, but we weren't the ones who did it," Sol commented.

Moving his hand in front of him, he summoned up a magic circle, sending a barrage of flying stones aimed at Trixie. The feline's quick reflexes allowed her to dodge them and break them apart with her attacks.

Though she got blind-sided by another storm of stone, which emerged from another magic circle on the building next to her.

The second attack made it's impact, dropping Trixie to the ground. She found herself soaking wet from the water and covered with deep cuts.

"Then who did it?!" Trixie screamed at the Earth mage, holding her stomach after one of the large stones hit it making her struggling to get back up.

"That honor and the renovation of your Guild Hall was all complements of _monsieur _Gajeel. Although in fairness, we were with him in spirit as the saying goes," Sol revealed to the duo.

Trixie was about to reply, but heard the sounds of banging echoing. The feline turned to see Lucy trying to break out, struggling to keep herself from breathing in the water.

"Let her go! She's gonna drown," the feline yelled out.

When the two didn't comply, Trixie's anger peaked to her limit. She rushed forward towards the duo to try and defeat them. While enraged, her speed almost doubled, allowing her to move faster than the two could keep up with their eyes.

Reaching them in seconds, she attempted to slash them both, causing them to dodge the attack. Trixie attempted to stop, skidding on the slippery floor. She finally stopped a good few feet from them.

"Come now _Madame_ _féline._ you have no chance of defeating two of the **Element 4** by yourself," Sol retorted.

After his remark, Sol slammed down his hand onto the floor. A magic circle once again emerged, only this time the building walls began to warp. In seconds, pillars of stone pierced through and tried to impale Trixie.

Each one that came at her had been broken by a strike that she delivered, causing Sol to look on in shock. The more he sent to her, the more she broke. When the attack stopped, Trixie still stood tall, giving the man a cocky smile.

"Heh, compared to my partner, your control of the Earth is amateur at best," Trixie retorted.

Before getting the chance to go on the offensive once more, something struck her back. The feline felt the impact, but then began to feel something else.

In a matter of minutes, all her magic energy somehow drained out of her body. With little time before she would pass out, the feline turned her head in an attempt to see who had hit her.

She came face-to-face with the princess of Phantom Lord, Angela.

"Go to sleep," were the last words Trixie heard before succumbing to magic exhaustion.

"TRIXIE!" Lucy bellowed out in the sphere. She attempted to break out of the sphere once more, beating her fists against its solid-like structure. It was no use.

"Don't waste your energy. My **Water Lock** spell cannot break from the inside," Juvia stated. The water-mage noticed that Lucy was starting to lose consciousnesses.

The blond-haired mage took one last look at Trixie's body. Only to see the feline revert back to her normal form, taken by the black-haired woman. All she could do was mutter an apology before finally passing out in the water.

"Oh, _si magnifique!_" Sol cheered, beginning to twist around and laugh with an evil tone in his voice. His victory dance stopped when Angela walked up to them and saw Lucy now floating helplessly in the water.

"Do not be afraid, we have explicit orders to bring you back alive. You are nothing but a target for our retrieval mission, Lucy Heartfilia".

"_T__riomphe!_"

"The target's been captured, drip, drip drop".

"Only barley. If I didn't use my **Shatterpoint** on the creature, she would've been able to break your spell Juvia," Angela warned her, making the blue-haired woman bow in respect.

"I apologize Lady Angela," Juvia muttered. She looked down to see the feline Angela was holding."What shall we do with the creature?"

Angela thought for a minute, knowing that that she couldn't choose to let her go due to two of the **Element 4** being witnesses.

"We'll be taking it back with us. I'm sure the Master will be able to find someone who would be willing to buy her," Angela replied with Sol and Juvia nodding in agreement.

The trio began making their way back to their home with the prisoners in tow. They were all unaware at what events were taking place back at the guild, let alone with their comrades. Though with time, both guilds would soon be faced with something that will turn the tide of the war.

* * *

_**Dun-Dun-DUN! Didn't see that coming did you? I hope you guys enjoyed reading Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part II, I apologize if Sol did not follow exactly how his character was. It's hard to work with someone who has little to none background in Fairy Tail, but you won't be seeing much of the Element 4 fights so it's no biggie. Meanwhile, there is two references I've made on here, first was the burning of Phantom Lord's Guild mark in front of the building. I made it similar to the Avatar: The Last Airbender scene with Iroh burning down the fire-nation flag in Ba-Sing-Sei. The second reference was the star wars force ability called Shatterpoint, which can allow someone to focus the force through the weak points of anything they touch. Spoiler Alert: Angela's magic is mainly based on this and one other one that will be revealed later in the series, so hope you guys enjoyed the early gift. Please leave a comment, review, or advice on the review sections and I hope to you see you guys in Chapter 8: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part III - Rescuing. **_


	8. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part III

**_Chapter 8_**

**_Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail  
_**

**_Part III_**

**_Quick Update: I know I said on my announcement that I'd be posting three chapters on my regular scheduling, but due to needing to study for an exam next week , I'll only be posting two for today since it'll be on Tuesday, hope you enjoy them._**

_**Reedited**_

* * *

**_Oak Town_**

**_Phantom Lord Guild_**

On the streets, tranquility filled the air of the town with many of its citizens going about their normal routines. Many were conversing with one another, sharing gossip and news to their friends and loved ones. Others found themselves enjoying the shopping and food that some places offered. It seemed like nothing was amiss.

Soon, the soothing atmosphere turned tense when an explosion occurred, reverberating across the town. Many of the citizens turned to the direction of where it came from.

In the confusion, some of the people quickly made their way towards the source of the explosion. When they arrived at the town's guild-hall, many faces soon became plastered with despair at what they saw.

The once majestic building of **Phantom Lord** had lost its luster and divinity. It now showed signs of abrupt damage done both outside and inside the building. Some people could see a large amounts of unconscious bodies on the floor. Many were all Phantom Lord mages.

The sounds of the battle could still be heard from the large hole that used to be the front door, making some of the people shake with fear. With another explosion, the crowd that gathered around the building soon scattered in a hurry.

All of Oak-Town found themselves hiding from the raging battle. They all waited in the comfort of their homes until the devastation between the guilds ended. However, they were unaware of what would follow after the battle ended.

* * *

_**Phantom Lord Guild**_

_**1st Floor**_

_**Main Hall**_

The inside of the building told another story. Passing the large hole, the battle between both guilds raged on. The more they fought, the more everything inside broke. All the tables shattered into splinters, the decorations obliterated, and the walls now had large gaping holes in them.

Both sides were dug in, neither one losing momentum or strength.

Near the now-broken bar, much of the liquids spilled onto the floor. Though many of the phantom mages weren't focusing on the lost booze. Their attention was on one large tanned mage. **Elfman Strauss** found himself against an entire squad of people surrounding him.

Some in that situation would falter and lose the will to continue. Elfman ate those kind of people for breakfast. The white-haired mage roared out in confidence, focusing magic throughout his body. Lifting his right arm, a purple magic circle enveloped around it, giving a bright shining light. When it came to an end, his arm took on the appearance of a reptilian arm.

It's appearance resembled that of a brown gauntlet with sharp claws that could slice through stone. The green-scales started down from his shoulder and ended at his elbow. It was twice the size of his original arm and having black spikes run down the forearm to his shoulder.

"**Beast Soul: Reptile!**"

After his declaration, the mage went on the offensive and swing right at his opponents. The sheer force of his swing made a powerful gust of wind emerge when he spun it around. Within seconds, the wind covered his body and revealed many of his enemies sent flying by the attack.

"Come on, man up!" he bellowed, moving to the other half of the group to repeat his actions. "Don't you want to be **Manly**?!"

Most of the mages in view of Elfman attempted to run away, attempting to evade his wrath and try their luck at the others. Despite their retreat, the white-haired mage would not allow them to escape. Many of the enemy mages prayed that they would not end up in the frenzy.

Their prayer were answered.

Seconds later, the sound of an impact echoed through the hall, making most of the fighters stop what they were doing. One dragon-slayer, Rodin Clark, felt the vibrations come towards him and turn to where the crash came from. With the impact, it allowed the slayer to get an idea of what landed on the ground.

He knew that it had to be the person who hurt his friends.

All eyes were now focused onto the direction of Phantom's broken sign above the bar. Upon impact, the sign showed to crack down the middle, causing a cloud of dust to emerge from it. Inside of it, a figure stood up and looked over to the battlefield, revealing deep red eyes. The sound of a brooding laughter suddenly started up.

Most of Phantom's mages had looks of fear in their eyes, making some of Fairy Tail wonder what they were afraid of.

The figure turned to the direction of Elfman, now giving a smile that showed his bone-white teeth that bore sharp fangs. He twisted his neck, causing the bones to crack and echo through the silence that enveloped the area.

When the dust cleared, many of them finally saw who the figure was.

"It's the **Iron Dragon Slayer**, **Black Steel Gajeel,**" Erza spoke in animosity.

The slayer's appearance was that of a tall muscular young man. His hair was long spiky black hair, and half his exposed body covered in sets of simple, round studs.

His attire consisting of a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges. It included a studded belt around his waist, loose beige pants tucked inside studded black boots. On his arms, he wore a pair of studded brown gloves paired with similar studded wristbands.

Before he could say anything, the sounds of rushing footsteps were heard. A single figure jumped upward towards Gajeel, revealing **Nab Lasaro **as the attacker.

His appearance was that of a tall tanned man, nearing the height of Elfman, with black hair in a bob-cut fashion. The attire he wore consisted of a dark, open vest. The edges decorated with green and red triangles, and a fur loincloth held up by a belt adorned by many rings. Around his neck was a necklace of fake-skulls.

"You attacked Levy!" Nab bellowed in rage. He swing his fist in his enemy's direction in an attempt to hurt the man that brutalized his fellow guild-mates. The attack was short-lived when Gajeel manifested his iron club and propelled it right into the mage's chest.

He pushed Nab backwards, crashing him right into the floor and continued to push. Not only did the attack broke apart the floor, it hit other Phantom mages as well.

"Oh man, what the?!" Loke blurted out, shocked at the cruelty he saw.

"He just knocked down his own guild-mates with that attack!" Gray shouted in horror.

Feeling satisfied at his action, Gajeel jumped down from where he was standing. He landed right onto the battlefield. everyone's attention turned on him in the event he would try something else, causing him to chuckle in arrogance.

"Show me what you got," He began while retracting his iron club. "Unless you scum are too scared to face the great **Iron Dragon Slayer**".

"TOO SCARED?!" Elfman bellowed at Gajeel's remark. The Take-Over mage had rushed towards the slayer, jumping up to the air and pulling back his fist. Right when he got close, Elfman threw the punch, only this time, he used his magic to change it's appearance mid-way.

The arm now took on the appearance of a stone arm, twice the size of his reptilian one.

"Real men have no fear!" his attack then colliding with Gajeel's left arm. Only now it had turned into another iron club to intercept the stone arm.

Both were now in a power struggle with one another, trying to win in the power struggle between their spells.

"You're Elfman right?" Gajeel asked, giving no hint of struggling in his voice. After his question, the iron dragon-slayer went on the offensive. He knocked away the stone arm, following up with a second Iron Club attack that aimed right at Elfman's head.

The white-haired manage manage to evade the attack, but quickly moved his arm downward. When he did, Elfman managed to stop a third Iron Club, produced by Gajeel's leg, that attempted to hit his stomach.

"Ah. Not bad, big guy," the iron dragon-slayer acknowledged.

"Well, that's because I'm a real man," Elfman declared.

"Yeah? then let's see how a _real man _handles This!"

Within a matter of seconds, Gajeel's iron club crafted from his leg began changing it's density. This allowed his leg to become fluid-like, and allowing him to produce many iron clubs from the single one. The attack spread out, going off in different directions at high speeds. All aimed at his his fellow guild-mates. Each one took a hit, resulting them all sent flying away.

"They're Phantom! You attacked your own men?!" Elfman questioned shockingly with widened eyes.

"Cuz I knew it'd distract you!" Gajeel declared. With his defenses down, the iron dragon-slayer took advantage and sent another Iron Club right into his face. The attack landed a direct hit, sending the Take-Over mage flying back.

Gajeel's win would soon turn into another battle.

Right when the impact was made and Elfman was in mid-air, two figures rushed forward at high speeds. One used Elfman as a jump pad. The figure then cloaked their fist in flames. The other propelled forward using the ground, managing to reach the same air the first flew at.

"Natsu!" Elfman yelled in pain, recognizing one of them.

Both figures sent their fists forward to punch, one cloaked in fire and the other covered in stone. The sight caused Gajeel to tense up for a moment. It allowed the attacks to connected with ease. Sending the iron dragon-slayer flying backwards into the broken bar.

Elfman landed down on the ground hard, coughing from having the wind knocked out of him. He was ready to give the fire dragon-slayer a piece of his mind, but stopped when he saw who was next to him.

In a twist of faith, both Natsu and Rodin stood side by side.

Although, instead of the calm aura surrounding the stone dragon-slayer. Elfman could feel one of hardened fury. Some instinct in his mind made him tense up, like he was starting down a wild animal with the intent to kill.

Gajeel stood up from the broken bar he was sent into, looking on to see the two new fighters in front of them.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm **Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer**," Natsu declared, slamming his flaming fist into his open-palmed hand.

The iron dragon-slayer smiled at his remark. His attention then turned to the other man standing next to him. He waited to hear what kind of crap he would say.

"You don't need my info. All you need to know is I'm going to demolish you and make you pay for what you did," Rodin threatened.

Some of the mages close-by from Fairy Tail stood in shock at what their newest member declared.

"Elfman, Leave this guy to me!" Natsu ordered, leaving Rodin to glare at him with irritation.

"Come on. First you use me as a spring board, and now you want to steal my man-to-man fight?" Elfman argued.

Rodin stepped forward, moving his left hand to block his fellow dragon-slayer's way.

"Take your own advice burn-bag. I'm taking this guy down alone," Rodin stated, making both mages look at him with annoyance by his demand.

"Listen cobble-dick, I don't care what you say, this is my fight!" Natsu growled in irritation.

Both dragon-slayers found themselves glaring at one another. When their eyes met, a small electric spark appeared, symbolizing the conflict between them.

"**Iron Dragon's Club!**"

Seeing an opportunity, Gajeel produced a green magic circle. He pulled his arm back and punched it forward through it. When he did, his hand now warped itself, transforming into his famous Iron Club. After that, the club propelled it forward and managed to hit Natsu in the stomach.

When the attack connected to the fire dragon slayer, Rodin went on the offensive. He went dashing to his enemy to attack, only this time he delivered a roundhouse kick. Gajeel could feel the heavy hit of his leg, due to the stone scales he cloaked it in, resulting in his body sent right into another wall.

The attack cancelled out the club.

"Alright, now this is getting fun," Gajeel muttered, standing up and cracking his neck once more.

Though the two slayers in front of him weren't focusing on him, rather on each other.

"Who the hell said I needed help?!" Natsu argued, giving Rodin a hard punch to the side of the head. Despite the power he put into it, the stone dragon-slayer didn't flinch one bit.

"That hurt!" Rodin barked, smacking the fist away from his cheek. "If you had actually paid attention to what you were doing, I wouldn't need to save your sorry ass!".

Both glared at each other, wanting nothing more than to defeat the other. Despite their anger towards one another. The person standing in front of them would draw their attention.

"Gi hi, Yo princesses," the iron dragon-slayer mocked. Natsu and Rodin now looked over to where Gajeel was, eyeing him with irritation. "You wanna go do your tea-party somewhere else? I'll make it easy for you two, I'll take you Both on, it'll be more fun for me".

That single retort cemented the lifelong friendship both slayers would have the years to come.

"Tell you what flame-brain," Rodin began. "Since this prick is a piece of crap anyway. Let's make it interesting: Whoever beats him down first can say They're the better slayer, sound good?"

Natsu cracked his knuckles when he heard the suggestion, giving a cocky smile.

"Fine, you're on pebble-breath, better not cry when you lose this," Natsu boasted with confidence.

With both of them now on the same page, Gajeel knew that his fun was just beginning.

Within moments, the dragon-slayer of fire and stone made their move, dashing right to break their foe in half. With the collision, all three could be seen in a mosh of attacks sent one after the other. Despite his arrogance, Gajeel made it clear he could take any attack they threw. With each punch or kick that both of his foes sent, he managed to block and counter as well.

Finding a small opening, the iron dragon-slayer channeled his magic to his right foot. His foot changed it's form into an iron club, delivering a swinging kick with the front of the club. It landed a hard blow that sent them skidding backwards.

Despite the attack dealing a hard hit to his own stomach, Rodin didn't falter. When he stopped, the slayer slammed his fists together, causing a magic circle to appear right in front of them.

Both arms began glowing brightly, beginning to change into a new shape. When the light deceased, Rodin's arms were now in a similar shape to Gajeel's iron club. Only instead of having a flat edge, it had a sharpened one that looked like it could puncture anything. Smiling, he stabbed both hands into the ground, making Gajeel raise his eyebrow at what the stone slayer's plan was.

"**Stone Dragon's Piercing Breaker!**"

Stabbing both his hands into the wooden floor, the ground began to give a violent rumble. Within seconds, a swarm of stone spears shot up. The pattern they appeared when in a straight-line, aiming to hit his opponent.

Although his aim was at Gajeel, the attack caught some of Phantom's mages as well.

Thinking quickly, the iron dragon-slayer went on the defensive. He produced two clubs on both his hands, bringing them up to guard against the incoming attack.

It proved to be worthless as the spears passed under the defense, hitting him right in the chest. The force behind the wave knocked him flat on his back.

Before Gajeel could stand back up, the sound of flames flickering made him to the celing. Coming right at him with a flame-covered fist was Natsu.

The attempt to deal another hit to the iron dragon-slayer didn't succed. With his quick reflexes, Gajeel managed to peel himself from the floor. He tucked forward and rolled away before the attack made it's mark.

Getting back on his feet, he propelled upward with his leg strength to make it back up onto the rafters. He produced iron spikes on his boots to keep himself from falling while he hung upside down.

Both slayers on the ground looked up to where their enemy had gone to. Gajeel taunted them by flipping them off.

The action made them both use their leg strength to jump up, landing on the rafters a few feet from the iron-dragon slayer.

When the trio realized there was no one else in their way, they took the change to unleash their full power. All three focused their respective elements to engulf their arms. Gajeel and Rodin cloaked their arms in scales, leaving Natsu to only engulf his arms with flames.

Although for Rodin, the color of his scales had changed. It was no longer gray like cobblestone, but now more a color of bronze. The texture even seemed different as well, almost reflective unlike his other scales.

When some on the battlefield stopped to observe. What they noticed was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The aura of the slayers manifested, transforming into three dragons that growled at each other.

For them, it wasn't just any ordinary fight. It was a fight for dominance. And the bell came in the form of an explosion.

Natsu and Rodin roared, jumping off their own pillar to reach Gajeel, who smiled and stood his ground. Upon landing, the stone dragon-slayer was the first to go on the offensive. Both his hands mimicked the claw of a dragon, a style that he learned from his grandmother. He thrust forward, giving an impression like a dragon was trying to pierce the iron dragon-slayer.

Gajeel intercepted with a punch, colliding it with the claw and stopping the attack. Even after the fact, Rodin didn't stop. With the fist in his grip, the stone dragon-slayer gripped down tightly to keep the iron dragon-slayer from moving.

The sound of cracking could be heard from the iron scale arm.

Before a reaction could come from Gajeel, the roar of Natsu distracted him. The fire dragon-slayer saw what happened, giving him the opening to deliver his own attack.

"**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**"

The flame around his fist condensed, giving a more dense flame around it. When Natsu threw the punch at Gajeel's face, the impact echoed through the guild-hall. The sound it made caused some of the mages bellow wince in agony.

Although the attack was strong enough to send him flying, Rodin's vice-grip didn't allow him to leave.

Gajeel felt the impact, but didn't falter and soon used the stone dragon-slayer's own grip against him. Tightening his muscles, Gajeel swing him right into Natsu with all his strength. The collision made Rodin release his grip and sent both he and Natsu flying into one of the rafter.

The crash from the duo broke it in half, sending down half of it to the ground.

Before the iron dragon-slayer could smile, he found them still breathing and standing. The impact broke the pillar, but they both caught onto the half that was still connected to another structure. Although without retribution from the attacks they delivered.

Natsu had gotten a bleeding lip from when Gajeel swung his partner. While Rodin received a black eye from face slamming right into the rafter.

The fight seemed to be an even match between the three.

Although, their conflict would soon reach a small snag.

Out of nowhere, the entire guild hall began to shake. Everyone bellow stopped their fighting, some getting a feeling of fear from what it was.

Rodin used his **Stone Sensing** to pick up on the vibrations, mapping out the building in the process. When he found the source of the shaking, a small part of him was glad that he was on Fairy Tail's side.

Some of the Fairy Tail mages on the ground knew what it was.

"Everything's shaking!" Wakaba exclaimed while smiling.

"No doubt, Master's getting serious now," Macao added.

"This is bad," Gray remarked with concern in his voice. A part of him wondered how long the guild-hall could stand it.

"What's happening?!" One of Phantom's mages asked in fear.

"This is what happens when the old man gets angry," Cana claimed.

"We call it the **Titan's Wrath**," Loke addressed.

"When he starts getting angry, there's nothing in the world that can stop it," Nab clarified. He gripped his left arm in pain, broken from the attack that Gajeel delivered.

"And when he's furious, the master's shown to become an even greater man," Elfman proclaimed.

Erza gripped her sword and rose it high, "Rise up Fairy Tail! we cannot lose so long as Master Makarov is with us!"

The speech caused many to cheer in confidence, boosting their drive to win and showing it through their fighting. Most of Phantom's mages realized that they couldn't win, even with the strongest people on their side, they had no chance of victory over their enemy.

On the upper level of the building, the master of Fairy Tail search for his hated foe continued.

* * *

_**Upper level**_

The hallways of Phantom Lord, once shown to have a sophisticated and calming atmosphere. Now had a path filled with broken objects and trembling terror left in wake by the Guild-Master of Fairy Tail.

The old master's steps mirrored his current feeling to his guild's rival. Each one had enough force to blast a wall without even trying. On the outside, the higher he went, the more new doors opened up.

After a long slow trek, Makarov finally arrived at his destination. In front of him was a heavy door that was three times his own size. Despite that, he showed no falter in his rage.

He gingerly placed a hand on the door, obliterating it and the entire wall in front of him without flinching.

The crumbling of the wall revealed the next room, one that housed the man he was searching for.

**Jose Porla**.

His outfit bore a fictional depiction of both a sorcerer and jester, merged together. He wore a flamboyant coat with a high collar that sported a jagged mantle and lower jagged edges. It also included intrcately decorated borders and inners. The coat also featured two prominent wings like a bat's with a matching witch-like hat. It bared Phantom's guild-mark.

Underneath the coat, he wore a plain shirt, which sported his Wizard Saint's medallion around the neck. Two light ribbons falling down from it, loose stripped culottes paired with long socks. And lastly, a pair of pointed shoes bearing two furry balls on the tips.

The wizard-saint's appearance was that of a tall, slim man with black straight hair. It showed to reach to his shoulders. His face had on a thin-mustache, which was a dark-reddish color tone, and dark colored lips.

Despite the intense entrance by Makarov, Jose didn't give a hint of fear or acknowledgement. All he did was sit down on his throne.

"JOSE!" Makarov bellowed, causing the room to shake violently. He jumped from the open hole, landing down closer towards his enemy. Each step that he took, the pressure cracked the floor beneath him. It almost looked like the entire room shook in fear.

"Ah Makarov, my old friend," Jose acknowledged, acting cockily at the master and infuriated him further.

"WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING FAIRY TAIL?! TELL ME!" Makarov demanded, continuing forward while he waited for an answer.

"It's been quite some time. Six years I believe since the last Guild-Master's meeting. Perhaps my most embarrassing time due to drinking too much and passing out in front of veterans like you all-"

The casual conversation finally made the guild-master snap. In a matter of moments, Makarov triggered his Titan magic, growing his right arm. When it stopped, the size was almost four-times the size of his whole body. He threw a punch right at the chair, breaking it apart in seconds.

"I didn't come here for a conversation. I want answers, you bastard".

In the middle of the dust, all that the old man could hear was laughter.

When it started clearing up, Makarov saw Jose still standing, only not what he appeared to be. Through the power of **Thought Projection** magic. The wizard-saint had created a holographic image of himself to stand in front of his rival.

"Predictable Makarov. Always the first to become enraged and lash out, I'm surprised that you're still living at all".

"You coward! No surprise though, you're better at stabbing backs than facing opponents. Like a scared dog, you run at the first sign of trouble with your tail between your legs".

"Who's afraid dear Makarov? I'm simply avoiding a confrontation between two Wizard Saints," Jose began. His hologram walked towards the old master, stopping a few feet from him. . "Too much commotion to achieve victory, where as I prefer a swift and silent method to gain it".

"Where are you hiding, come and face me like a true Guild Master!" Makarov demanded.

Instead of an answer, a figure began to project near Jose's feet. After a few moments, two figures at his feet manifested and made Makarov look in horror.

"Lucy! Trixie!"

Lying on the floor were two thought projections of his two children. Both tied up in ropes.

The old master wanted to roar out, but knew he had to keep a rational head. He dialed back his rage and gave Jose a spiteful glare.

"Why did you kidnap them?! Tell me!"

"You mean to tell me the Great Makarov Drayer doesn't even know who a member of his own guild really is?" Jose taunted, looking down to the girl. "It's not surprising that she'd keep that information secret, but it doesn't matter now".

Jose lifted his left arm upward and summoned a purple magic circle around it. He lowered the hand and aimed it right at the two without hesitation.

Realizing what he was about to do, Makarov attempted to yell, but couldn't.

Behind him, the air began distorting itself, cancelling out and reveal** Aria**, leader of the **Element 4**.

_"Impossible, I couldn't feel his presence at all_,_"_ Makarov thought, turning to get a full view of him.

The man's appearance consisted of his body covered by a large, loose green coat sporting white edges. It closed around his neck, sporting a wide and high collar, but left open on the front below it. Under the coat was a pale red, similarly loose, and ruffled pale red shirt. It's high collar split in three horizontal straps circling his neck, held closed by an equal amount of buttons. Each one for each strap.

Along with the shirt, he wore a yellow robe and an extremely loose pair of pants with black shoes on.

"It's so sad, SO SAD INDEED!" Aria wailed, having a river of tears going down his face.

Those the last words Makarov heard.

In almost seconds, a bright glow emerged, causing the master to put his arm up to cover his eyes. Despite that, an incredible sharp force hit the master, causing the floor beneath him to crumble.

With no ground under him, the master fell through the hole, crashing through the remaining floors. His arrival to the ground floor would be an upset for all there.

* * *

_**1st Floor**_

Back on the main area of Phantom Lord, the battle between mages started to turn with Fairy Tail's members gaining the upper hand. Erza's speech allowed them to find strength.

For many of them, victory was all but certain.

A object crashing down from the ceiling would soon change that outlook. Above in the rafters, the dragon-slayers stopped their fight, looking over to where the figure landed.

Everyone close to the small crater looked on, wondering what had arrived. When the dust cleared, Fairy Tail's new enthusiasm soon broke apart.

Laying down in the war zone, was Fairy Tail's infamous leader, Makarov. Only now, his appearance had changed. Where once his skin was light, now it appeared as a sickly green color. His face gave a look of pain no one had ever seen before, feeling his entire body greatly weaken.

It's Gramps!" Natsu declared, making both him and Rodin look in shock. They ignored their opponent and jumped down. When they landed, both slayers dashed towards their master.

"And just when it was getting interesting. Looks like the party's over," Gajeel complained, hanging upside down and looking to the crowd.

When the duo arrived, some people were already surrounding Makarov. Erza had arrived and craddled the master, following up by Cana, Elfman, and Gray standing around her.

Most had looks of worry when they saw the condition of their leader.

"My magic...I can't feel it..." Makarov uttered, struggling to speak a bit louder.

"Please master, don't speak, save your strength," Erza gently replied to Makarov.

"What the hell happened to him?" Cana asked with worry in her tone.

"I don't know, but there's something wrong. I can't sense any magic energy emanating from his body," Gray announced.

The group around to the ice-mage, having looks of horror plastered on their faces.

"Wait, you mean that the master's nothing more than an old man now?" Elfman gasped.

"No, that can't be!" Happy interjected.

"Come on old man, you gotta get up!" Natsu demanded.

Rodin slammed his fist into the ground. He managed to get a reading with his Stone Sensing. The stone dragon-slayer could feel the master's heart starting to weaken. Each beat got slower and slower the more it continued.

"Damn it, what the hell did that bastard do to him," Rodin blurted out, making the group turn to the stone slayer with confusion.

"What do you mean someone did this to him? It can't be. The master's too strong to beat," Gray declared.

The stone dragon-slayer stood up, looking back to the rafters where Gajeel still was. Instead of just the iron dragon-slayer, Aria made his entrance.

"The vibrations gave me the entire story. Jose was never here to begin with, and the master encountered that bastard up. He did something to him," Rodin claimed.

Upon seeing Rodin's glare, Aria began to crying once more.

"It's so sad! Life is too cruel, the world has lost a powerful mage!" Aria proclaimed, mocking Fairy Tail in the process. The taunting made Rodin tighten his fist in rage. Although he knew now realized what was about to happen next.

Phantom's mages heard the news about Fairy Tail's Master. In a matter of moments, they started to that their opponents lost their biggest gun.

Their enemy didn't stand a chance now.

When Phantom's mages caught on, most gained new confidence and went on the offensive.

Fairy Tail attempted to counterattack, but realized it was futile. The odds were greatly stacked against them. Their numbers began to diminish the more Phantom pushed forward. And they had no leader to guide them.

Hearing the sounds of war, Erza rubbed her eyes to rid herself of the tears she had. Her attention now focused around her. She could see how bad the situation was getting and that they had limited options.

"_We'll destroyed at this rate, with the master hurt badly and our moral low. We can't survive the onslaught_" Erza thought to herself, knowing full well what she had to do. "Everyone, evacuate and retreat back to the guild now!"

That single remark made everyone from Fairy Tail, excluding Rodin, look at the requip-mage. Most of them stared at Erza with something they never thought they would have.

Doubt.

They knew Erza was never the type to give up nor run from a fight.

"No way! We don't run from a battle!" Gray argued with Erza.

"Real Men don't run from battle!" Elfman added, holding one of Phantom's mages in a headlock.

"Some of us still have strength to go on. We can't give up" Macao groaned, leaning on Cana after taking a powerful blow for her.

"We're staying!" the female declared.

"We have to!"

The small group looked over to Rodin, who was still kneeling down and looking at the master with a worried look.

"The Master was our best hope of winning this, but he's hurt and getting worse. We don't leave and he might take a turn for the worst!".

All of them glared at the stone dragon-slayer, all except for Erza. She silently thanked him for her input and gave her own glare towards them.

"He's right, we don't have a chance against Jose or the Element 4. Retreat now, that's an order!".

Every consious Fairy Tail mage wanted to argue once more, but realized that the requip-mage would not change her mind. With regret, Fairy Tail began their retreat.

Hoping to give them a fighting chance, Rodin and Natsu went on the offensive to stop the attacks fired by some of Phantom's mages.

Back on the rafters, Gajeel looked down to the retreating mages. He couldn't help but pity their action.

"There they go, was only a matter of time before the lot of them would start running like worthless dogs, pathetic". The slayer muttered, releasing the spike from both his heels and landing next to Aria.

"They're retreating with sorrow in their hearts, so much sadness," Aria remarked.

"Aria, disturbing as always I see. Gotta admit, I'm impressed at how you manage to defeat the Fairies Guild-Master".

"I simply followed with Master Jose ordered me to do, But thank you for the kind words!".

The giant mage began to cry hysterically, having a flood of tears dropping down his face.

"Oy Aria, don't go crying on me again, knock it off!" Gajeel jeered. A few minutes later, he decided to ask the large man a question. "So, what's the deal with that woman, Lucy?".

The two dragon-slayers bellow picked up on what Gajeel said, turning around to look at them. Both had an enraged look on their faces, especially Natsu, who's body started catching fire.

"Her capture was successful. It also seems like Lady Anglea brought a special guest along with her. A unique cat with an ability to change it's form".

The second part of their conversation made Rodin's blood boil.

Both of the dragon-slayers couldn't contain their anger.

"GAJEEL!" Both roared out, making the iron dragon-slayer simply look down at them. He grinned with amusement.

"We'll settle the score another time princesses. You can count on it." were the last words Gajeel stated. In an instant, Aria lifted his hand and made the duo disappear into thin-air.

The duo looked at each other with a serious expression. Even without saying anything, they knew what their next step was. Looking back at the door, they found the rest of Fairy Tail had retreated in time.

Though now Phantom's mages were chasing after them. One of them soon found themselves dragged backwards, getting slammed into a pillar.

"Who the hell-"

The poor prisoner immediately shut his mouth when he realized who had grabbed him.

"It's you two, the dragon slayers.."

"Good guess you piece of shit. We need to talk to you," Rodin threatened.

With their prisoner in hand, the duo made their way out of the guild in a hurry. Though not alone. Despite the order to retreat, Happy stayed behind and found his partner going off somewhere.

He decided to follow them to where Phantom was keeping both Lucy and Trixie.

* * *

_**Mountain Range**_

The trio, accompanied by their _volunteer_, managed to evade capture by any other members of Phantom Lord. After leaving the guild-hall and Oak Town, the group came upon a road that took them into the mountains close by the small town. The rocky path in front of them was like a dream come true for Rodin. He hadn't had any rocks to eat since leaving Magnolia.

Within a matter of seconds, Rodin had one piece of stone that was about the length of his arm in hand. Eating it like it was meat on a bone.

"So what are we gonna do?" Happy wondered,floating in front of them.

"Isn't it obvious, we're saving Lucy," Natsu replied while dragging the mage he captured behind.

"Not to mention Trixie. So I suggest you get to talking," Rodin threatened, holding the sharp end close to the man's face.

"I got nothing to say to you fairy scum," the man blurted out.

"We're not asking again asshole. Where are Lucy and Trixie?" Natsu threatened.

The answer came in the form of him flipping them both off. With that dumb move, the fire dragon-slayer lit the man on fire, causing him to yell out in agony the loger the flames kept going.

"If you don't want to be cooked alive and have me break your fingers off your corpse. You better give us something," Rodin added with irritation, ignoring the man's painful cries.

"I swear I don't know! If Jose told us, I would've told you by now!" He wailed out in pain, kicking and screaming the hotter Natsu's flames started becoming.

"And my friend just told you, you'll be cooked alive if you don't tell us anything useful!" Natsu roared at the man, turning up the heat on the mage.

"OUR HEADQUARTERS, IF SHE'S ANYWHERE, IT WOULD BE OUR BASE NOT TO FAR FROM HERE,NOW PLEASE STOP!"

The fire dragon-slayer looked at Rodin, who nodded, making him stop his fire. The pain made him pass out, leaving him to just be dragged the rest of the way.

In the distance, they finally saw what their prisoner was talking about, and knew where their next destination was.

* * *

**_Phantom Lord_**

**_Main-Headquarters_**

**_Holding Cells_**

Lucy Heartfilia found herself in a shroud of darkness, lying down with her eyes closed and no light on her. It was as if she had gone to the next world, leaving her body behind. Despite her ghostly appearance, a spark of life emanated from her. After a few seconds, her eyes opened and found herself looking at a stone celing.

"Ah!" She yelled, sitting upward off the ground.

"Geez. Do you always wake up screaming first?" a voice complained. The blond-haired mage turned her head to where the voice came from, seeing her ally Trixie. Though unlike herself, the feline hung from her chains located around her paws.

"Trixie, you're okay! Wait.. Where are we?"

"Don't you remember what happened?"

Lucy began to try and remember what had happened before she was unconscious. Like a gust of wind, the memories from before passed in front of her, reminding her of what had happened.

"Phantom. They took us prisoner," the blond-haired mage concluded. She turned back to the feline, but before saying anything, she saw that Trixie had been severely injured. "They..."

"Oh come on, don't give me that look," Trixie berated her. "It's not as bad as you think, plus I tried to protect you. These scratches are my fault".

Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at her remark, scoffing back to the feline. All she knew was that the two of them were safe and sound for the moment, though their new visitor would change that feeling.

"Ah, I'm glad to see you finally awake. I was quite worried there," a voice spoke out.

The two of them turned their attention to the door of their cells, seeing someone open it and step in. That someone was Jose and his daughter, who followed in and closed the door behind her.

"I am Jose Porla, Guild-Master of Phantom Lord. This young lady is my daughter, Angela Porla" Jose announced before gesturing to his daughter.

All she did was bow in respect.

"Forgive me for the accommodations, but due to the nature of your status, it was better I put you where I put all my prisoners after all".

"You bastard! You're the ones who hurt our friend Levy, let us go! Fairy Tail will be looking for us and when they do," the threats Lucy attempted stopped when the man chuckled.

"My dear, instead of making such pointless remarks, it'd be best that you consider to simply cooperate with us. You'd be well off and treated as Phantom Lord's esteemed guest," Jose offered.

The sound of him talking made Trixie hiss in disqust, accumulating a good amount of spit, and spat right at him. The shot managed to make it right to his shoe, making the Wizard-Saint annoyed..

"Angela, please be a dear and punish that creature".

Angela didn't reply at the request, but simply nodded. The black-haired woman walked towards the chained feline, pulling back her fist. It glowed the same color Trixie saw before, and felt it hit her stomach hard.

"Leave her alone!" Lucy begged.

The punch delivered enough force to make Trixie cough a small amount of blood from her mouth. Though the same time, the feline felt like something was coming back to her. Within her body, magic energy began to course through Trixie and start replenishing her body.

Not enough to change shape and fight a Guild-Master, but enough that she could make a quick escape with her wings. Also, the chains on her paws felt more lose, which meant she could slip out of them at any given time.

All the feline could do at that point was look towards Jose's daughter. She tried to understand why Angela was helping her.

"I apologize for having this animal in your cell. This worthless cur still needs to learn it's place," Jose spat.

"Why are you doing this?! What's the point of picking a fight with us?!" Lucy yelled out, demanding to know why he kept coming after them.

"Us?" Jose quired." Oh, you mean Fairy Tail. They were a bonus for me, that's all".

The evil grin he gave when he replied made a shiver go down both Lucy and Trixie's spines. They never once felt such a cold and heartless tone. Even some of the rich folk the feline encountered never spoke like that.

"What?" Lucy glared back, questioning what the Wizard Saint meant by that.

"It's simple actually. Our goal this whole time wasn't Fairy Tail. No, the aim was we were aiming to capture someone, and due to them being part of Fairy Tail. It was easy to have goaded the entire guild to act in war and allow that person to be more easily obtainable," Jose explained.

"It's simple actually. Our goal this whole time wasn't Fairy Tail. No, the aim was we were aiming to capture someone, and due to them being part of Fairy Tail. It was easy to have goaded the entire guild to act in war and allow that person to be more easily obtainable," Jose explained.

"Who's the person you're trying to capture?" Lucy inquired. Soon after she said that, a thought came into her head. With it, her expression slowly changed from surprise to horror. Her eyes widening in fear, knowing whom he was referring to.

"Dear girl do not insult me, it's you," Jose revealed.

Lucy stare in shock, never expecting that the one part of her past she wanted to bury so bad would come back to haunter her.

"Lady Lucy Heartfilia, Heir to the wealthy Heartfilia Family. It's quite an impressive reputation indeed".

Trixie looked in shock at what Jose had just said. At one time, she heard the name and their reputation. Though all she knew was Lucy's first name when they met. Rodin hadn't told her about her last name, though he didn't know much about them himself.

"How...who told you about this?" Lucy pondered, knowing she didn't tell the truth about her past to anyone, not even Levy.

"I'm quite surprised. You chose to keep this a secret, even to your own comrades in Fairy Tail. What's more, I can't understand why the daughter of someone so wealthy is doing menial work. Especially for such a pathetic guild like Fairy Tail".

"Is that what this is about, you want a ransom?"

"No child. Nothing like that, it was a request offered to us by your father," The saint replied to Lucy.

He turned away and walked forward towards his own daughter. "How could I possibly deny it? After all, any father would resort to any means to find their daughter".

All Angela could do was close her eyes in disqust, trying to ignore her father's touch.

Lucy just stared in disbelief at what she was just told. She didn't expert her own father to go to such extremes. "I'm honestly shocked that he actually noticed that I left, but I don't care, I will never go back to that hell ever again!" She declared, making Trixie smile at her moxie and knew that the blonde was tougher than she appeared to be.

"No child. Nothing like that, it was a request offered to us by your father," The saint replied to Lucy.

He turned away and walked forward towards his own daughter. "How could I possibly deny his wish? After all, any father would resort to any means to find their daughter".

All Angela could do was close her eyes in disqust, trying to ignore her father's touch.

All Lucy could do was stare in disbelief at what she was just told. She didn't expert her own father to go to such extremes. "I'm honestly shocked that he somehow noticed that I left, but I don't care, I will never go back to that hell ever again!" She declared, making Trixie smile at her moxie and knew that the blonde was tougher than she appeared to be.

Angela looked on in silence. All she could feel was jealous toward Lucy. All she ever wished was that somehow and in someway she could also defy her own father and leave her own personal hell that he's made her stay in. Though unlike Lucy, she knew that the consequence of leaving would be more severe. She didn't care about her well-being, but someone else's.

"Oh my. I had a feeling you would be a bit more of a handful than first proposed," Jose remarked.

"Then I guess you wasted your time, now let me go," Lucy demanded.

"I'm afraid not my you're willing to cooperate or not. It doesn't mater to me," Jose remarked. The celestial-spirit mage glare at the man with discontent and rage. She looked down for a few seconds, realizing that there was a possible solution to her dilemma. Though it but would need luck, timing, and good acting.

A few seconds of silence passed.

She then started shifting around, moaning a bit in anguish. She looked at the man with a pained look on her face.

"I have to use the bathroom," Lucy uttered in embaressment. On the wall, Trixie look at the blond-mage with complete shock. Before she could reprimand the woman, the feline realized what her plan.

She reluctantly decided to help, praying Rodin never heard what she would say.

"Yeah. I mean I expect that the man will want his daughter to be decent when he comes to take her away," the feline commented. .

Their attempt to trick him made the Wizard-Saint chuckle.

"Do you take me for a fool? It will take much more than cheap tactics to trick me," Jose commented. He walked over to the corner of the cell, kneeling down to pick something and head back to Lucy. He dropped what he picked up, revealing it to be a bucket. "Use this".

"A BUCKET?!" Lucy and Trixie blurted out, making Jose laugh.

"I'm prepared for anything that the two of you might try to come up with," Jose boasted.

The blond-haired mage looked at the bucket, thinking about what her next move was. She exhaled a breath of annoyance, knowing that it was time for desperate measures.

"Well, if this is the only way...", Lucy remarked, pretending to try and take off underwear.

"Wait, you're serious?!" The Wizard Saint uttered with shock. His entire body turned white, leaving his face blushing brightly at her suggestion.

He believed she was serious.

"What a disgusting and vile young lady, I'll turn around to at least teach you about proper manners". The master spluttered.

After he turned around, Lucy found the opening she was looking for. A few quiet steps behind him and she was in perfect position.

Stretching her leg back, Lucy flung it right between the Saint's legs. His reaction made him turn completely white, howling in pain before falling flat on his face.

With him distracted, Trixie managed to escape her cuffs with ease. She landed on the ground and went rushing towards the exit with Lucy behind her.

Their attempted escape soon turned sour.

Both stopped before they could fall off the tower, giving a glance downward to see themselves being nearly six stories up.

The sounds of anguish came from behind them, making them look back to see Jose. He managed to regain his footing, but found himself holding onto his privates.

While he trudged towards them, Angela stayed behind, waiting for her orders. In truth, she tried her best not to break out in laughter.

"Ugh, clever you two. Though pointless, as you can see, there Is no escape but as you can see, there Is no escape," Jose began. "I had originally promised to do no harm, but now? I cannot let this insult go by. So now, you two will witness the real fear of Phantom Lord".

Lucy realized at that point that there was no more cards left to play. Even if she could use her spirits to fight, there was no way to escape her father anymore. All she could do was give up and return to her personal hell.

Despite the despair she felt, one last ray of hope shined on her.

The celestial-spirit mage felt something furry rub against her leg. She moved her eyes downward, catching a glimpse of Trixie controlling her tail. She was struggling, but with a little luck, the feline managed to write out words on the woman's back leg.

It took her a few seconds, but Lucy finally identified what she was trying to tell her.

_**Trust me, jump back**_

At that point, Lucy just decided to risk it all to be free. Taking one last breath, she propelled herself backwards. While she did, her foot managed to catch Jose's privates once more, making him howl once again in pain.

Trixie followed the blond-haired mage, quickly grabbing the back of her shirt. In a matter of seconds, both of them were now floating in mid-air, all thanks to the feline's wings.

Although, due to the limited amount of magic she had left, Trixie wouldn't be able to hold it much longer. After almost two minutes, their last life line disappeared.

Both of them now plummeted towards the ground.

Even with death closing in, Lucy decided to pray with all she had. The woman needed a miracle, and she knew only one person who could deliver it.

"He's here, I could hear his voice even in the distance. He has to be be here" Lucy muttered, taking a deep breath before shouting out,

"NNNAATTTSSSUUU!"

Trixie looked at the mage and followed her lead, "ROOODDDIINNN!"

The call was heard.

The sounds of rushing footsteps echoed through the town, making Trixie open her eyes to see a dust cloud coming towards them. Their dragon-slayer partners ran with all their might towards them. The duo roared out their partners name, both of them jumping and catching them in their arms before heading right into a wall.

The impact of the crash echoed throughout the area.

The cloud of rubble soon disappeared to reveal the position the four individuals were in.

Natsu underneath Lucy's body, his face smothered against her breasts. While Rodin landed on his back with Trixie in his arms, clutching his shirt tightly.

"Phew. That was way too close," Rodin uttered in relief. He soon felt something wet soaking his shirt, realizing that his feline released all the fear she had.

"Yeah, glad we made it in time," Natsu added, mumbling while smothered by Lucy's chest.

"Yeah, thank you...thank you..." Lucy whispered, rolling off of Natsu. The fire dragon-slayer moved to her back and untied her hands from the binds.

"What she said," Trixie muffled in response before Rodin let her go, seeing that someone hurt her.

"Damn it all, what the hell did they do to you?" The stone dragon-slayer growled. He stopped when the feline placed a paw on his hand.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm fine," The feline replied to her partner, rubbing her eyes to get rid of any tears that stayed behind.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked Lucy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lucy replied, having a guilty tone in her voice.

"That's good, you guys had us worried sick," Happy remarked to Lucy and Trixie. "Well we should get going back to the guild".

"What, are you crazy?! We can't just turn tail and run, not when we're right here at their main base. Let's go take these bastards down," Natsu declared.

Happy, Trixie, and Rodin stared at him with shock at what he suggested.

"We can't, Erza ordered us to go back to Fairy Tail," Happy remarked with annoyance at the slayer's recklessness.

"That's cuz she's too scared. I'll easily beat those bastards to a bloody pulp alone," he proclaimed, earning a hit to the head with a rock from Rodin.

"Think for once using that little brain you have in that empty head. Even if we had everyone, they're too powerful since we lost our big gun" Rodin remarked, getting a glare from Natsu.

"Exactly, we need to get even for what they did to him".

The two kept arguing back and forth, both trying to convince the other to go with their own idea. The more they fought, the more their friend started realizing it was all her fault.

Hearing that Makarov got hurt and that her friends had to retreat, Lucy couldn't help but feel the pain of guilt. Her sorrow ran deep, eventually making her cry a river of tears. Her cries caused both slayers to stop arguing and look towards their friend, walking up to her and wondering what was wrong.

"I'm sorry. It's all this is my fault, I can never express how much I wish I could change it all," Lucy began to say between her sobs. She turned to them, revealing the tears that ran down her face. "But I don't want to leave, I love Fairy Tail and I want to stay".

The stone dragon-slayer got confused and drop to one knee putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, of course you're staying Lucy, why would you leave?" Rodin uttered in confusion.

"What's wrong, why are you crying?" Natsu asked, feeling bad that maybe she got upset over he and Rodin arguing.

"You can tell us," Happy added.

Lucy looked at their worried faces, making her feel even more guilty and resulting in her turning away and. Trixie got up from where she was and walked up to her, putting her paw on her leg.

Lucy looked at their worried faces, making her feel even more guilty and resulting in her turning away and. Trixie got up from where she was and walked up to her, putting her paw on her leg.

"Come on. I think it's best we get out of here," Rodin suggested to Natsu. The fire dragon-slayer nodded and helped Lucy onto his back, lifting her up and carrying her.

The five of them began making their long trek back to their home. The small group was unaware of the coming storm that would soon engulf not just Fairy Tail, but the entire town of Magnolia.

* * *

_**God, So much writing and so little time, really makes you feel old and helpless. That was Chapter 8 my fellow readers, I'd like to once again thank LastComet and BananabubbleMania for their extraordinary help in relooking over all my stuff. I know I haven't done too many references lately, but that will change the more we get deeper into the series. Please stayed tune for Chapter 9: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part IV.**_


	9. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part IV

_**Chapter 9**_

**_Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail_**

**_Part IV_**

**_Reedited_**

* * *

**_Phantom Lord_**

**_Main Headquarters_**

Phantom's main headquarters had a dominating aura around it, making it appear as if something had angered it. Although the focus of the aura wasn't the actual building, but the top of the highest tower on it.

At the highest point, the Guild-Master was still on his knees. His prisoners had managed to escape right from under his nose. And his target dealt a hard blow to a tender area he was now holding.

After their escape from his grasp, he became enraged. His entire body had a black brooding darkness, making his own daughter begin to sweat from the pressure he was emitting.

Before she could grasp what was going on, her father's hand was now around her neck. Jose lifted her upward with relative ease and began choking her.

"You worthless stupid girl! Why did you not stop them?!" Jose bellowed. His voice sent a powerful echo that reverberated throughout the canyon where the building was at.

"Forgive me Master," the female choked, struggling to break or break away from his grip. "You gave me explicit instructions to never move without obeying your orders".

Her response made Jose madder, tightening his grip to the point Angela started to lose consciousness.

"Do not test me child. I am in no mood, and do not forget your place," the Wizard-Saint threatened, making Angela nod at his remark. He let her go, causing her to and breath in a large amount of air and cough, trying to regain her breathing control. "Those fools have made me angry, this will not stand at all! Gather everyone and prepare the fortress, we will eradicate Fairy Tail once and for all!"

Angela calmed her breathing, feeling the immense pressure Josewas now releasing from his body.

All she could do was bow in response, exiting the cell and jumping off to the building.

The Guild-Master stared in the direction of Magnolia, grinning in anticipation. Which resulted in a full view of his teeth, preparing himself to annihilate his enemies once and for all.

Through the canyon, echoes of grinding gears resonated. The groaning made some of the wild-life vanish from the area, almost as if they feared something.

The animals had no idea how right they were to be afraid.

* * *

_**Magnolia**_

_**Fairy Tail**_

After their retreat, most of Fairy Tail managed to make their way back to their home. Most made their way to the guild-hall's basement. A small handful were severely injured and forced into a make-shift medical station.

Despite their good fortune, most of Fairy Tail felt ashamed, especially some of the more older members. Even with their loss, most had already begun to make preparations for another counterattack.

"Alright, if Rodin's information is correct," Macao began, pointing onto a map. "This should be where their main headquarters is at. Our best bet now is to try and fight at long range from this south-east hill".

"No way we're going in blind," Wakabe added strongly. " I'm bringing every single one of my explosive lacrima's for this".

Close-by was a large box full of crystal orbs.

"We'll need magic books for the Holder-mages located in the archives!" Macao yelled out, hearing an acknowledgement from one of the mages.

While the older members planned for their next attack, some of the younger members couldn't help but keep to the side. They didn't want to get in the way of others.

On one side of the basement, a small group was brooding in shame. The group consisted of Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Trixie, Rodin, Elfman, and Gray.

All they were doing was sitting down on something and trying to think.

So far, nothing good came to any of their minds.

Lucy just sighed, having a tone of guilt. Trixie caught onto it and looked to her comrade, giving her a look of reassurance.

"Come on, you can't feel like all this is your fault," Trixie consoled.

"But it is...All this was because of me," Lucy uttered. The feline could tell she was trying her best not to cry.

"What do you mean? This sort of thing can occur when someone's extremely wealthy. Luckily, you've got a real man protecting you," Elfman boasted with confidence.

"Oh shut up already, enough with the "man" talk," Gray exclaimed, making Elfman glare at his response.

"Still, it's shocking to believe what you told us about your past. Why did you hide it from us?" Happy inquired, wondering why she felt the need to keep such an important secret from them.

"It wasn't intentional," Lucy responded, trying to keep herself composed. "I couldn't bring myself to admit that I had run away and had been living by myself for over a year. All because he chose to ignore me for so long. He made a horrible deal and hurt everyone I care for just to get me to go back to him. If I hadn't run away in the first place then none of this wouldn't have happened!" Lucy yelled out, finding herself losing the war with her sadness.

"Come on, it's not like you're the one to blame, it's all your idiot father's fault-" Elfman began to say but got interrupted.

"Idiot! think before you talk for once," the ice-mage retorted. His comment made the white-haired mage gawk in embarrassment.

"No, Elfman's right," Rodin remarked, standing up from where he was sitting and walked over to Lucy. "Believe me Lucy, I can understand what it's like, feeling hurt by the person you cared about the most for half your life. You made the choice to leave and begin anew on your own terms, you're father was the one who hired Phantom to hurt Fairy Tail, not you".

The blond-haired mage looked over to her comrade, seeing the kindess in his eyes. All it did was make her more guilt.

"No, it was my selfish choice that made all this happen, and maybe now, the answer to fix all this is just to give myself up to him..."

Her friends looked at her with worry, unsure of what else any of them could say.

Except for one.

"Come on! You being the rich daughter to some slime-ball, that's so not like you Lucy," Natsu stated. His remark made Lucy look up to him, showing the surprise on her face. "Flint-butt is right, you came out here to join us, laugh with us, and take on awesome adventures in this awful pit. You're place is with Fairy Tail. It's who you really are".

The kind words Natsu spoke made Lucy shake with happiness. All her memories, both good and bad, came rushing to her at once. It finally allowed her to let go and release her tears.

"Don't cry, it's not like you at all Lucy," Gray remarked.

"Real men can't stand to see woman cry," Elfman quavered, not knowing what to do.

The stone dragon-slayer stood up from his spot, walking towards her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Don't cry anymore. You're not alone and we're not leaving," Rodin remarked with comfort in his tone.

All she could do was nod in response, making them all smile.

While they had their moment, in another part of the guild. Cana was starting to get annoyed.

The mage had sat down onto the floor, piling an assortment of cards in front of her face down. Most members knew that Cana's Card Magic worked for her in more ways than one.

One use allowed her to read fortunes for people whenever she wanted. At that moment, her attention wasn't on predicting the future, it was on locating a certain mage.

"Damn it all, I'm still not having any luck locating Mystogan," She shouted, throwing the cards up in the air in frustration.

Nearby, Mira overheard the woman's remark and turned towards her.

"Oh my, well it's nothing to get angry over, you tried your best," Mira praised.

"Now that we know Lucy is their main goal, it's definite that they'll attempt to take her back by any means necessary. With half of our own forces still in recovery, we need the best to combat them".

The bartender knew she was right and turned back around to the communication Lacrima in front of her.

She had found the only other person who could help them.

"The master's been gravely injured and we aren't able to find Mystogan anywhere. Please, you're this guild's only hope **Laxus**," Mira proposed to the person on the other end.

On the orb, there was a male who appeared to be in his early twenty's. His appearance was that of a blond-haired person with spiky hair and a lightning-shaped scar on his left eye. The expression he gave the bartender was that of disgust.

The man was **Laxus Drayer**, grandson of Makarov.

"Fairy Tail is in grave danger, and it needs powerful mages to protect it, please.."

His response was a mocking laugh to her, amused by how pathetic the bartender looked to him.

"It's so amazing how much crap the geezer managed to get himself into, so hilarious!" He ranted, making Mira wish that they didn't need his help at all. "Tell me, why exactly is this My responsibility? You two are somewhat competent, Deal with it yourselves".

"So you're just going to sit back and let us die?!" Cana yelled in anger.

The yelling caught the attetion of Rodin, who looked over to where the woman were at. He excused himself and walking towards them.

He made his way and stopped a few steps from them, heading the rest of their conversation.

"It's not my jpb to take care of that worthless geezer's problems. He got his own pathetic self into this, let him get you out of it," the man criticized.

That remark made Rodin's anger spike. He drew the line at self-control when someone would insult the Guild-Master.

He walked passed Mira and stood in front of her, now eyeing the man on the orb.

"Hey asshole! I don't give a shit who the hell you think you are, but you have no right to say that!" Rodin interrupted, making the two look at him with shock.

Laxus gave him a look of disinterest.

"And who the hell are you suppose to be?" He mocked, belittling Rodin as if he was nothing to him.

"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that our home, the guild you're part of, is trying to protect Lucy from Phantom Lord. And you're not going to do anything because it's not your problem!?" The stone dragon-slayer retaliated.

"Who the hell's that? I don't even know some...Wait, she's that new girl right?" Laxus inquired, having gained interest now. "I see, alright then, I'll save your worthless hides, but Only if you can convince that girl to become my woman afterwords".

"You disgusting pig!" Cana remarked with anger now in her voice.

"You better show the man you're begging for help some respect right now. Oh and do me a favor, if that worthless geezer somehow makes it out of this trap. Tell him that he's better off retiring and that I should be in charge of Fairy Tail!" Laxus snarked, laughing sadistically.

Those words that broke the camel's back.

Out of nowhere, a fist collided with the crystal, breaking apart into shards on the floor. Cana and Mira gasped when they saw it was Rodin who did it.

His expression had full rage and a vein pulsing on his forehead.

"Worthless piece of skin..." The stone-slayer muttered. He exhaled a breath of relief, but stopped when he heard the sound of crying. He turned to Mira, who had tears going down her face.

"I don't understand how someone from our own guild could be so cold and heartless..." Mira questioned, turning away from the two in shame. "I hate sitting here and not being able to do anything! I have to do something to help!"

She attempted to walk away, but felt Cana's hand grab her shoulder to stop her.

"You can't, even if you were an S-class mage in the past. You're no use to everyone like this," She stated.

Mira look down on the floor with guilt at what she was referring to, but broke out of her stare when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned around to see Rodin looking at her with concern in his eyes.

He didn't know what the story was about Mira, but knew she wasn't helpless.

"You may not be able to fight alongside us, but you're not just sitting around Mira," he began. "You take care of those who hurt and help to heal them. That in itself is worth more than any amount of fighting".

His kind words reached the bartender's heart, making her wipe the tears off her face and smile.

Behind her, Cana chuckled in silence and went back to her cards to try again.

Before they could say anything else, their newest problem made itself know.

A violent shaking suddenly turned up in the basement, causing everyone inside to hold onto something. After a few seconds, it died down.

The sounds of footsteps rushed down the stairs, making everyone turn to see Azlack standing in the door, sweating. He had a look of horror on his face.

"There's something big outside!" He announced, making everyone look at each other in confusion.

All they could do was stop everything and follow the mage outside.

* * *

_**Outside**_

They'd soon discover that the problems they had were only getting worse.

When everyone got out and made their way to the front of their guild, most felt the color leave their faces at the same time.

"What is that thing?!" Natsu inquired, sweating in disbelief by what he and the others were looking at.

Close to the border of Magnolia, stood the main headquarters of Phantom Lord. Only now it was literally walking towards them. The building appeared to have large mechanized legs with three of each on the sides of the large stone slab that it uprooted. Each one had caked-on dirt from underground, only having some patches of the metal shining with the sun.

When it soon made it's way to the water, the large wave it made soon washed off some of the dirt. It gave most of Fairy Tail a clearer view of how it was moving.

"It's a giant guild-hall with metal legs!" Happy proclaimed.

"No shit, it's huge..." Trixie remarked with horror, never witnessing something like that before in her entire life.

"Is it Phantom again?" Loke asked, hoping that he would be wrong.

"How the hell are we suppose to fight that thing?!" Wakabe cried out.

"I don't know...," Erza stuttered, shaking in fear at the monstrosity inching closer and closer. "I never once dreamed they'd take this drastic of measures just to attack us..."

Even Rodin found himself at odds that any one of them could do anything at that point. He slammed his fist into the ground to find something, anything that could tell him if it had weaknesses.

The investigation only furthered his doubt.

The structure of the creation showed hollow with hardly anyone inside. Its power source was large Lacrima's that were spinning around one singular orb. And hidden in front of them, was a large cannon that was twice the size of an average one.

Before anyone could suggesting a plan, the fortress began changing.

The front face of it soon lowered down, exposing a metal hole that hid behind it. Though after that, the hole extended, revealing an extremely long barrel that stood at fifty feet in length.

The cannon's began to collect magic energy from the Lacrima's, building up a large concentration of it. The sphere it had spiraled and expanded, growing larger and larger.

At that point, Erza realized what was about to happen.

"EVERYONE! GET TO SAFETY NOW!" Erza bellowed out. The requip-mage knew that the guild-hall couldn't stand up to a blast. In addition, the impact of the attack would wipe-out half the city in the process.

There was only one chance to save the city, and she vowed to take the risk.

Ignoring the call of Mira to not go, she rushed forward and stopped where the cannon pointed at.

Summoning up her courage, she focused her magic to Requip one armor that she hoped would be enough to protect her home and family. her body glowed with radiating light, activating her magic and requpping an armor many of them recognized.

The armor she wore had two different sections: The top part consists of a singular. It's blue chest plate had a lighter blue belt-like contraption around the waist. It also included three spikes line the top of the chest plate which gives way to a white neck brace split in the center to allow room for her chin. And her shoulders shown to have a large spike on each one. The gauntlets showed to have two halves of a whole shield attached to each arm. It allowed her to connect them together by putting her hands together.

The bottom part connected to her chest-plate with a two layer metallic skirt with small spikes hanging on the ends of each layer. With her legs, they got covered in a sectioned armor to match the rest of the armor with a pair of greaves starting at the knees.

"That's her **Adamantine armor**!" Happy informed.

"She can't be thinking about actually trying to block that attack, can she?!" Bisca exclaimed with worry.

"There's no way that armor will hold Erza, don't risk your life!" Alzack yelled with confusion and fear.

Erza knew that it was a long shot and there was a chance the attack would finish her off. Even so, Fairy Tail meant more than anything she ever owned. And in her heart, she would gladly take the impact to make sure it still stands with it's members alive.

Near the front of the group, Rodin stared in disbelief at what he was seeing transpiring in front of him. Never in his life did he see someone risk everything, even their own life for a busted building. That one moment was a wake-up call to the stone dragon-slayer. He started to realizethese people, his own fellow guild-mates. Each of them would lay down their life to ensure that the thing they cared about most would be safe.

All he could wonder was, did He have that same drive?

"Stand back!" Erza ordered, feeling the magic almost ready to release.

"ERZA!" Natsu called out to her, trying to go forward to stop her but got held back by Gray.

Time itself seemed to slow down for everyone when the cannon released its dark blast towards Fairy Tail. The view of it was like the judgement of darkness coming to annihilate everything in it's path.

On that day, it would not succeed.

Erza slammed her arms together, completing the shield and bracing herself for the blast to come. With the shield now whole, an enormous green magic circle emerged right in front of her, taking the full impact of the blast.

Everyone in Fairy Tail took cover and braced themselves.

Erza struggled with the blast and felt the force being more powerful than she anticipated. She desperately held on with all her might, feeling her armor crack throughout her entire body. The armor couldn't take it anymore and exploded.

The force pushed Erza back and made her tumble on the ground. Despite that, the blast did not hit. The entire guild lowered their guard, seeing how badly damaged the ground Erza stood on was.

Their eyes now focused on their comrade, lying down on the floor with pieces of her armor still on her.

"Unbelieveable, she actually managed to block the attack," Macao marveled.

"Like always, Erza's one of the most manliest mages in this guild," Elfman responded.

"Though it took more out of her than she thought," Cana stated.

Rodin and Natsu both rushed over, checking to see if their friend was alright.

"Erza, are you okay?!" Natsu yelled, kneeling down with Rodin checking her pulse.

He sighed a breath of relief.

"She's alive, that blast really did a number on her though," he stated.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whine reverberated in the area. It grasped the attention of all mages from Fairy Tail.

"Greetings Fairy Tail," Jose's voice echoed. "I must admit, I am impressed. Never did I expect you all to survive my Jupiter Cannon. I commend you. Despite the small accomplishment, you must realize it is futile"

Everyone started getting angry, wishing that he'd stop talking.

"Makarov has fallen and Erza Scarlet can no longer fight, you have no hopes of winning this battle. Despite this disadvantage, I am nothing if not merciful. All I ask is the surrender Lucy Heartfilia to me. Believe me, it would behoove you to spare yourselves further pain".

His bold request fell on deaf ears.

"You can just forget it!" Azlack shouted, glaring at the fortress..

"There's no way in hell we're giving up one of our own members to you bastards!" Bisca added in the same tone.

"You hear that?! She's staying with us!" Macao protested as well.

The statements from everyone soon turned into open defiance from all members of Fairy Tail. Their resolve began to irritate the Wizard-Saint.

"I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN! SURRENDER HER NOW OR I WILL OBLITERATE YOUR ENTIRE WORTHLESS GUILD!" The Wizard Saint decreed, losing patience.

Among the crowd of Fairy Tail members, Lucy saw her comrades continuing to protect her. All it caused her was pain, hating how her secret now threatened the destruction of Fairy Tail.

All she could do was take one step forward slowly, indicating that she would do what he wanted. Before the second step, the voice of Erza caused her to stop.

"There's no way we're giving her up, you'll have to kill us all first!" she declared, attempting stand up in defiance like the rest of her guild-mates.

"YOU CAN STOP ASKING NOW CUZ WE'RE NOT DOING IT! FAIRY TAIL IS GONNA KICK ALL YOUR ASSES!" Natsu roared out, causing the vein on his forehead to pulse.

"GET READY JOSE. WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" Rodin bellowed out.

All the blond-haired mage could do was cry, not just tears of sadness but tears of joy. She found what she was looking for all this time, a real family.

"You insolent pests! If that's what you want, then prepare to face another Jupiter strike!" the saint's voice roared. "You have fifteen minutes to reconsider or else I eradicate you out of existence!"

The sound of charging took place.

"This isn't good," Elfman stated. He knew that there wasn't a chance they could survive a second blast.

"We can't evade another attack like that," Cana informed them.

Erza's attempt to stand up proved useless, feeling her body weakened.

Little did they know, their problems got worse.

From the openings of Phantom's main headquarters, shadow-like figures emerged in droves. They swarmed out and went out into the air. All had the same appearance. Red eyes with red-cloaks on with the Phantom Lord Emblem on the backs, showing to have bony arms with rings on each finger. moving forward towards the mages.

"You're at a cross-roads Fairy Tail, there's only two options you can take at this point. Surrender Lucy Heartfilia immediately and submit to my troops or fall to my weapon!"

"Are you serious?! If he fires again, all his soldiers will get caught in it," Macao shouted in a jested manner.

"He's gotta be bluffing. No sane person would ever purposely kill their own soldiers," Wakaba added, feeling a drop of sweat go down his face.

"No. He'll blast at us and not even bat an eye," Cana declared. "Those troopers are creations of his Darkness Magic. To him, they're expendable and won't care if they're destroyed".

"EEEEEHHHH!?" Both Macao and Wakabe had looks of horror plastered on their faces.

"We have to find someway to take out that cannon before the fifteen minutes are up".

The duo dragon-slayers stood from where they were and turned to Cana.

"I'll smash that thing to a million pieces, time to do it is fifteen minutes right?!" Natsu asked.

The card mage gave a nod.

"Let's go Happy!"

"Aye Sir!" Happy replied, grabbing Natsu by his vest and flying upwards.

"Trixie, We're going too!" Rodin exclaimed, knowing that Natsu would need help to take down the cannon and come back out alive.

"You got it partner," Trixie answered and grabbed her partner in the same manner.

"Come on Elfman, we're going too!" Gray decided with Elfman following and yelling out his catchphrase once more.

"Good luck. We'll protect the guild and buy you all the time we can," Cana remarked, drawing out her cards for her magic.

Everyone behind her cheered on, getting ready to defend against the ghastly creations of Jose.

With the duo flying forward, all hope was that they could somehow find a way to shut down the cannon.

* * *

**_Phantom Lord_**

**_Fortress_**

High in the sky above the lumbering building structure that stood in the middle of the water. Natsu and Rodin were flying thanks to the help of their partners. A few minutes later, they found themselves getting closer to their goal: the all powerful Jupiter cannon.

They reached the tip of the barrel, jumping onto it and landing safely.

Rodin and Trixie started looking at it, trying to figure out if it had any kind of structural weakness.

Natsu on the other hand, found his own method.

"What the hell are you doing?" the stone dragon-slayer puzzled.

Natsu had gone ahead and began to punch the the barrel. The trio face-palmed, moaning at the idiocy the fire dragon-slayer had.

"What does it look like?! I'm trying to break the cannon! How bout leading a hand, stone-for-brains," Natsu retorted.

Trixie shook her head, giving her partner a tug on his leg. He looked down and saw the sarcastic look on her face.

For the first time, he agreed with her.

"Moron, this isn't some rock neither of us can punch through," Rodin commented. "If we want to take out the cannon, we gotta find the source of it's power, and my bet is it's through the barrel'.

Natsu punched it for a few more seconds before he stopped, realizing how much that made sense.

All three repeated their face-palming, pitying the pink-haired mage.

Before they entered, Rodin looked down to his feline partner, making her confused.

"Trixie, I need you to get back and help protect Lucy," Rodin ordered, making the feline look at him with utter surprise on her face.

"There's no way I'm leaving you and the hollow-headed matchstick to storm this place by yourselves. You need me," Trixie protested.

Her partner got down on one knee, giving a look of worry.

"Listen. I already lost you once when they kidnapped you. I don't want that to happen ever again, so I'm not asking, I'm begging: Please go protect Lucy".

Her initial response was to remark with something sarcastic, but at that time. She didn't have one and decided that maybe for once, she would listen to him.

"You die on me, I'll personally go to the afterlife and drag you back before I kill you myself," Trixie threatened.

They both gave quick hug before Trixie went flying back to the battlefield. Rodin sighed a breath of relief at her decision and got ready to enter.

Though now, a new problem arose.

Some of the constructs noticed what the trio's plan was and diverted away from the swarm. A few now had their sights on them.

"Shit! Natsu, go! Get to the cannon!" Rodin exclaimed, making the fire dragon-slayer look in shock.

He didn't give a second thought and went through with Happy right behind him.

Finally alone, the stone dragon-slayer cracked his knuckles, and jumped up. He collided with the specturms, easily sending them flying with one punch.

With some disappearing, more found their way towards the enemy.

The swarm dropped down on him, beginning their assault.

Rodin focused his magic, taking in a large breath of air, and released his roar towards them. The attack managed to thin out the crowd, but it made them adjust themselves to his tactics.

The remaining troops began to fly around in many directions, attempting to confuse their pray. Within seconds, each one attempted to dive-bomb and strike the stone dragon-slayer.

One after another, Rodin had grabbed them and delivered an attack. Each one disappearing in a puff of smoke when the impact hit. A couple managed to slash at him, scratching him up good.

He focused his magic once more when the rest came towards him, trying to hit from all sides. The swarm engulfed him in a matter of seconds.

"**Stone Dragon's Teeth!**"

With that declaration, the entire swarm disappeared instantly. In the middle, Rodin's body produced large sharp spears directly from his body, making him look like a porcupine.

The spell took a bit more out of him, making him look tired.

"Come on man, focus!" He muttered to himself, trying to ignore the fatigue that the spell hit him with.

The spikes retracted to his body.

At that point, he felt shaking coming from the cannon. Rodin's Stone Sensing allowed him to see that Natsu had now encountered someone trying to stop him.

Knowing that there was no time to waste, he decided to take a different route to shut down the cannon. He spotted where the specters swarmed out from and made his way there.

When he got close to the opening, the stone dragon-slayer took in one more breath before dashing right for one of the holes.

He released his roar, sending it right into the exit spot where one of the specters came out. After the attack, Rodin went in and ran all the way past the hollow tunnel.

Unbeknownst to Rodin, he'd get a chance no one would would get before.

* * *

_**Command Center**_

"Master, the cannon's Lacrima is destabilizing! We're losing power quickly!" a Phantom mage declared, looking at a blue magic circle in front of him.

Inside the control room, Jose's small coalition found themselves losing control of the cannon.

Most of them were standing around the middle, each one summoning a different color magic circle. Each one based on a different element.

"Damn that Totomaru! One job and he screws it up," the Wizard-Saint grunted. The images on his holographic screen revealed that Fairy Tail stood their ground.

Most of the specters he sent to destroy them had disappeared. His anger began to rise further, making his black aura grow brightly around him.

Despite this, a stress-reliever would soon come his way.

Out of nowhere, the celing where the holes for the specters exploded. Most of the people stopped what they were doing, turning their attention to a figure that dropped out from there.

"Good. I could use something to kill,".

The dust cleared to reveal Rodin standing there, covered head to toe in dust. Some of the mages there yelled out intruder and went on the offensive.

Each one got hit with Rodin's punches, sending them soaring right into an opposite wall of him. When he finished, the stone dragon-slayer sensed the dark aura, and looked over to where it was at.

He had finally come face-to-face with the Guild-Master.

"Master Jose I presume?" he quavered, trying to keep himself in check. Even though the dragon-slayer was strong, Rodin could sense the incredible power his opponent had in him.

All he could do to keep himself from passing out was keep his rage.

"Amusing. To think someone from Fairy Tail would be stupid enough to try and come to me," the Wizard-Saint mocked. "Didn't anyone tell you boy? You're about 100 years too early to even look at me!"

The Guild-Master's eyes turned pitch-black, producing his intense aura to shake the entire room. All Rodin did was hold his ground, tightening his body to endure the pressure in front of him.

"Is that all you..got.."

"Don't be coy," he addressed, standing up from his throne and beginning to walk forward. "I'm surprised, I quite possibly know most faces from that wretched guild. And yet, I never seen you before".

The pressure Jose kept made Rodin unable to reply. If he did, he'd probably lose his lunch in fear. The closer he got to him, the more it kept pushing him down.

"I admit, you've got quite an endurance, but I have no time to waste on pathetic fools".

He stopped right in front of the dragon-slayer, raising his left hand right at him. His Darkness Magic began to spiral around, building up until a black sphere was in the palm of his hand.

"Do say hello to you're Guild-Master in the afterlife".

Without warning, Jose aimed upward and released the blast. Yet when it went up, he arched it just before it the celing, and blasted right into Rodin.

The impact broke the floor he stood on and several more beneath that one.

"Pitiful. Angela," he addressed, turning to see his daughter lurking in the shadows.

"Yes Father?" she inquired, getting down on one knee.

"That pest will probably survive the crash. Most normal mages would've passed out in my presence. Dispose of him".

"Understood".

With that one remark, she ran up to the hole and jumped in, leaving Jose to smirk widely.

In his mind, nothing would stand in his way of getting revenge. Little did he know, Fairy Tail would soon get it's second one, and when it did. The storm would be ferocious.

* * *

_**Lo and behold the chapter has ended, we're getting close to breaking down the first ten and I can say I'm happy to see a lot of people reading my work, even without much reviews going into it. I'd like to thank Lastcomet and BananaManiaBubblegum for helping me through this process, and all my fellow readers too. Stay tune for Chapter 10: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part 5 - Rodin vs Angela. **_


	10. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part V

_**Chapter 10**_

_**Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail**_

_**Part V**_

_**Rodin vs Angela**_

_**Sorry for the late posting, I've been busy reediting the last few chapters under the advise of my beta. Though now that they're done, I can now continue moving the story forward. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

* * *

_**Phantom's Headquarters**_

_**Basement Level**_

Deep within the moving fortress is large open area, big enough to fit a small town in there and filled with many cell doors. Each one built right into the stone walls with most of them empty. The bars were rusting due to neglect.

Despite the emptiness, that day it had it's first visitor in weeks.

On the basement floor, it showed to have someone who entered from the hole in the ceiling. The person laid on a cracked floor with debris on top of them.

A sliver of light passed through the windows, shining down onto the figure, revealing it to be Rodin. He laid there unconscious. His body covered in a couple of scratches after Jose blasted him through the ground.

The stone dragon-slayer found himself regaining consciousness after a few minutes. He struggled to stand up from the ground, causing some of the rubble to fall off when he sat up. It took a bit of time for regain his wits about him

When he did, the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was still alive.

Taking this time to get some info, he stood up to look around. He found himself in what could was a prison cellar.

Slamming his fist into the ground, he triggered his **Stone Sensing**. A few seconds later, he mapped out the entire area and found himself in the lowest level of the fortress.

Before he could do anything, the entire building began to shake violently. Rodin could feel the entire floor he was in start to rotate, making him go to the nearest cell door.

He gripped on the bars to keep himself from dropping.

Eventually, the rotating stopped for the entire fortress. The dragon-slayer found himself hanging from the cell door.

The entire room turned 180 degrees, making the hole Rodin came in on the floor now. He let go of the door and slide down the wall, landing on the ground.

Truthfully, Rodin couldn't make heads or tails of what side was right or wrong.

"Damn. Now how am I suppose to get out of here?" He inquired, not sensing the person behind him.

"Not through that hole," a voice commented, making Rodin tuck forward and roll. After stopping, he quickly turned to see who had replied.

He saw Angela and began to blushed.

"Not the normal reaction I'd have if an enemy appeared in front of me," she pointed out, making the dragon-slayer glare at her.

"Who are you?"

"Angela, Angela Porla".

The name made Rodin give a threatening glare at her. She could tell that his aura changed from a calm state to an enraged one in seconds.

"What in the hell is happening outside?"

"Our master has initialized the most powerful force Phantom Lord has. Soon your guild and the entire town will be nothing but a memory," a voiced replied ominously.

The stone-slayer turned his attention towards where it was coming from, seeing a magic circle appear on the ground. A beam of light flashed, revealing Angela Porla now standing in front of him.

"You must be that bastard's daughter, I've been hoping to meet you," Rodin stated.

"Is that a fact?" She inquired calmly.

"The feline you attacked and kidnapped. She's my partner and best friend," Rodin informed her, glaring and clenching his fists. "Don't think that you're getting away with hurting her the way you did just because you're a gi-"

His tirade stopped when a palm-thrust delivered to his chest. The impact of the attack was immediately followed up with a graceful kick to the head that knocked him back a few steps.

"Don't think I'm like that blond bubble-head Jose's trying to recapture. Unlike her, I'm not useless and will be happy to kick your chauvinistic ass ," Angela retorted with a blunt tone.

She wouldn't be able to relax just yet, already noticing that Rodin regained his senses. Shaking his head, he ran forward, summoning up his Stone Dragon's Sword that extended from his left hand. He swing in a horizontal motion to catch her off guard.

The black-haired mage only just had seconds to react and rolled under the blade's trajectory when he slashed. Her counter did not end there: After dodging the sword's cut, she quickly concentrated magic into the palm of her left hand. This action generated a blue sphere of energy that had an amazing rotational force. It appeared as if she held a physical orb.

"**Shatter-Buster!**"

Angela had stopped rolling, using the ground to jump backwards and turned around in mid-air to thrust her palm forward. The spell strike his back, exploding with intense force that caused a shock-wave through the area.

The stone-slayer felt the impact of the spell, but kept his ground and was only forced to take a few steps forward by the attack. He turned around to attempt another slash but failed when she moved backwards post-haste.

After jumping back to give herself some distance, Angela had surprised planted on her face. Rodin had not only stayed standing after the attack, but his jacket hadn't still remained intact. She knew mages twice her size that fell after just one hit, but to see someone still be stand from it, was a first in her book.

"Ouch, that didn't tickle," Rodin honestly admitted. The stone-slayer rolled his shoulders to ease the tension off his back. Yet right when he did, something inside his body began to affect him. Magic began to slip out of his back, causing him to fall on his knees and feel breathless.

"What the hell did you to do me?"

"**Shatterpoint**, one peculiar magic that most never heard of," Angela began to explain. She generated a blue aura around her to show her magic. "It's peculiar because it's one of the few magics that's freely manipulated by me and used in different ways. Also, when it hits an opponent, it break them down bit by bit, which is what I did to your back and legs just now".

"No joke, but judging by you're reaction to me still standing, you didn't expect I could handle it," Rodin inquired.

His answer came in the form of an action by Angela. Using her right arm, she focused another sphere in her palm once more. Only this time, the sphere was flung at him like it was a ball. Rodin's attempt to try and stand up proved more difficult since he still didn't have control of his legs. It left him with the only option of rolling towards the side and evade the attack, but just by the skin of his nose.

The mage pressed her counterattack more, generating sphere after sphere. Many thrown towards the stone-slayer, leaving him unable to evade and forcing him to take the brunt of the attacks.

Angela stopped when they all hit, exploding upon impact and creating a shroud of dust from the floor. A few minutes of waiting allowed the smoke to clear from the explosions. She looked on to the body of Rodin, trying to determine if he was dead or not.

The black-haired mage stepped gingerly towards him, leaning in closer to gee if he was really unconscious. Her caution did her not good and resulted in a hard headbutt right to her forehead.

The blow disoriented her, leaving the stone-slayer to take the offensive. After managing to regain control of his legs, he stood up post-haste to face her. Taking in a large concentration of air, Rodin focused focused his magic into the lungs and exhaled hard.

"**Stone Dragon's Roar!**"

His spell propelled forward and caught Angela, exploding upon impact. The force sent her forward through the air, but her trip stopped when the spell collided with a stone pillar. Upon impact, the pillar broke apart and crumbled down with the rubble falling right on top of her. After a few seconds, she managed to break through the rubble, growling with annoyance at what the stone-slayer had done to her.

"How? You shouldn't have been able to regained use of your legs that quickly," she demanded.

Angela then noticed that her opponent had taken on a new appearance. He was now cloaked with his **Stone Dragon's Scales** spell. "After your explanation, it dawned on me. While you're magic can break down my physical and magic fault lines, they aren't broken. It means even if you weaken my body, I can just focus my energy to reinforce them".

The explanation made Angela look at him with surprise. She found herself chuckling without knowing warning, before it elevated into a full honest laugh. Rodin found himself a bit confused at what was going on, making him raise his eyebrow in confusion.

"Amazing," she began, calming down and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Here I was thinking most Dragon Slayers had little to no brains in their heads. Yet here you are, giving decent explanations and not just going crazy, it's a refreshing change of pace".

The stone-slayer didn't expect her to stop fighting so serious and just casually begin a conversation. He didn't feel any ill intent towards him, making him wonder what her angle was for starting this.

"Is that a fact? I half-expected that iron dick to least have some kind of sense".

"Please, all that iron-idiot can do is eat and fight, sense is the last thing on his mind".

"you know, you're awfully chummy to someone who's trying to not just beat your dad, but destroy your guild too".

"So what else is new?" Angela admitted. She gave him a cold stare before continuing. "If it's not you, some other idiots will probably come and try to destroy this place. In all honesty, I've lost count and interest in caring about this place".

Rodin didn't know whether to find that insulting or amusing. He opened his mouth to give a reply, but felt an energy begin to enter the area. He looked and saw Angela sigh with frustration, kneeling down to press her hand onto the ground.

A magic circle emerged and made the black-haired mage take two steps back. From the circle, a figure emerged and took on the appearance of her father via his Thought Projection magic.

"_Angela, why have you not yet returned?_" he addressed his daughter.

"The dragon slayer is proving more difficult than originally anticipated, I may need more time-"

"_Time?! You worthless waste of filth, can't you do anything right in your useless life?!_"

"...I apologize father".

"_Since you're too incompetent, I will be sending Gajeel and some others to capture and retrieve the target_".

"Understood".

"_You best finish him off now, or else I decided to take out my frustrations on your mother.._"

The conversation ended with the departure of the Wizard Saint. The talk left Angela in a fit of rage, making her tighten her fist and start having tears pool in her eyes. She knew that it wasn't the time or place to get angry and forced her emotions down. She reached into her pocket to grab a rubber-band. After putting her hair in a ponytail, Angela wiping her eyes and refocusing her attention to the stone-slayer.

Rodin now felt a sense of despair emanate from her, realizing now that his opponent was getting serious now.

"Not that this hasn't been amusing, but it's time to end this," she stated.

Her tone gave away her frustration.

"...Trixie.." Rodin muttered worryingly. He knew that there wasn't time to waste and made a run to the hole in the floor in an attempt to get to his comrades before Phantom could.

The stone-slayer stopped in his tracks when another blue sphere flew right towards the top of the door. The explosion caused destabilization in the wall and dropped down the wall on top of the only exit there. Rodin's anger now emerged and turned his head to the woman.

Both of them now had the same look of determination and lead with it by rushing right for one another. They yelled out a battle cry to announce that their real fight would now begin.

In the back of his mind, Rodin prayed that his partner be safe and sound. He knew Trixie was strong and trusted her with his allies. The thought got erased from his mind when he and Angela clashed, making a shock-wave that shook the basement itself.

* * *

_**Fairy Tail Hideout**_

The town of Magnolia was in a state of panic with the echos of war reverberating through the area. The sounds of fighting sent chills down the spines of people that were running away. Many citizens found themselves hiding in special designed anti-magic bunkers crafted by city officials. Others took shelter in the safety and comfort of their homes. All they heard on the streets was some wind blown trash. A single slip of paper catching onto a loose board on Fairy Tail's secret hideout.

Within the building, three figures hid in the shadows, using only the light from the outside to see what's in front of them. One window illuminated most of the room, revealing Trixie and Reedus, sitting on a wooden box. Both of them looked at a small make-shift bed close-by, where an unconscious Lucy lay

"How long has she been out of it?" the feline wondered.

"Mira's **Sleep Magic** wasn't a powerful hit on her, she should wake up in a little bit," Reedus remarked.

As if on cue, small moans reverberated from the blond-haired mage, leaving Reedus to walk towards her body. He leaned in close, seeing Lucy open her eyes slowly.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Stirring from the nightmare she was having. The blond-haired mage delivered her famous, **Lucy Kick**. Hitting Reedus right on the head. It sent the heavy man crashing into one of the wooden boxes. It took a few seconds for her to realize what happened.

"Huh, where am I?" Lucy blurted out in confusion.

Geez blondie! I heard of sleep fighting, but what you did was overkill," Trixie blurted out.

The feline jumped off from her seat and walked over to the Pict Mage, changing into her Battle Form to help him out of the rubble. After that, they walked over to Lucy, sitting down on two empty chairs close to her.

"Good to see you're feeling okay, I feared you wouldn't wake up," Reedus admitted happily.

"I'm sorry for that, was having a really bad dream," Lucy added, getting up from the bed to sit down on a wooden box.

"So where are we exactly?".

"We're at one of the secret hideouts Fairy Tail owns, Mira and the others are still out fighting," Reedus mentioned.

"Wait, so why are you two still standing around here for?" Lucy addressed shockingly.

"Simple: Me and chunky here are your bodyguards until this whole thing blows over," Trixie began. "You're still their main target after all".

"So you guys are doing all this, just for me..?" The blond-haired mage muttered with guilt in her tone. Knowing now that there was more going on, Lucy got up and glared at the two.

"I can't just be sitting down playing the damsel in distress, I wanna help".

"Then help by listening to what everyone is saying, let them protect you. That's what being a guild is all about isn't it?" Trixie remarked with optimism.

The celestial spirit mage looked on at the two, realizing what the feline said was right. In her heart she hated the idea of others risking their own lives for the sake of hers, but never felt happier that others cared for her.

Their tender moment soon disappeared in a loud crash through the ceiling.

The cloud of dust surrounded the small room, engulfing everyone inside. The dust entering entered their lungs, causing them to cough violently.

In the shroud, one figure stood upside down from the ceiling and looked down on them. Trixie summoned her wings and flapped them, blowing away the cloud to reveal who the figures really were.

There in front of them stood Gajeel, hanging on the ceiling, glaring at them in the shadows. His piercing red eyes caught the attention of Lucy, making her start to shake with fear.

He scoffed at her reaction.

"Pathetic, here I was thinking the girl would actually be strong," Gajeel mocked.

He unhooked himself and fell down to the floor, landing on his feet before standing up.

"Here's the deal scum: You're gonna hand over the girl nice and easy or you can make this fun for me and try to take me down".

Both Trixie and Reedus moved forward in front of Lucy, giving their own glare towards the Iron Slayer in protest. Their bravado made Gajeel laugh in amusement, which made them uneasy.

"You can forget it metal-freak! No way in hell you're getting your hands on Lucy," Trixie proclaimed adamantly.

"Yes, we will let no harm happen to her," Reedus added.

"Oh well, more fun for me," the iron dragon-slayer approved.

Gajeel then began to draw in a large amount of air into his lungs, expanding his chest a bit in size. After channeling some magic energy through his lungs, he collapsed his hands together. Taking a stance like he was holding a trumpet before blowing into the small open hole between his hands.

"**Iron Dragon's Roar!**"

The blast of metal shrapnels flew right towards the duo and landed a successful hit. The attack not just hit them hard, it also ripped apart the wall behind them to pieces. Trixie and Reedus took most of the damage, leaving Lucy only to have taken some damage from the blow-back. The pict mage struggled to stand up after the blast, feeling his knees weakening but managed to keep himself up with his will alone.

"Reedus.." Lucy uttered in concern.

"Don't fret Lucy, he won't get anywhere near you, I promise" the pict mage proclaimed. Reedus pulled up his shirt to expose his round belly, quickly grabbing his paint brush and pallet to prepare to use his Pict Magic. Going on the offensive, the artist dabbed his brush with gray, white, and black paint.

With his tools ready, Reedus moved his brush fluidly, painting a portrait of two snow vulans on his massive belly.

"**Roar of Silver!**"

Magic energy flowed into the paintings to give them life. and make them physical before thrusting them forward towards the iron slayer. Each of them mimicked actual vulcans and went on the offensive by swinging their arms to hit Gajeel.

The iron dragon-slayer countered, blocking each strike swung at him. He waited for the perfect chance and summoned up his sword, stabbing each of the drawings in the chest. Each construct gave a wail of pain before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The attack from the duo didn't stop and the feline went rushing right when Gajeel had destroyed the last painting. She jumped up, spinning forward and sending a kick at her opponent to try knocking him down or least imbalance him.

Her kick never connected due to Gajeel's quick reflexes, which made him jump back to avoid the attack. Moments after stopping, a magic circle emerged underneath his feet and shined green light onto the iron slayer. Within seconds, his body became cloaked in metal scales that changed his entire appearance.

"**Iron Dragon's Scales!**"

Trixie's face gave a look of shock, recognizing it as a similar spell that her partner had and knew it's effectiveness. However, knowing that iron was stronger than normal stone. The feline realized that she and Reedus wouldn't be enough to stop him. She turned to Lucy with a look of guilt, knowing what she was about to say would kill her.

"Lucy, you have to run now," she reluctantly admitted.

"No, I told you-"

Her argument fell on deaf ears.

"LISTEN! This guy is bad news and it's clear that we're not strong enough. The least we can do is buy you some time to get somewhere safe".

The blond-haired mage gave the same look that her feline friend had, realizing that there was no other choice.

Reedus painted another portrait of vulcans to unleash on the iron slayer. This gave Lucy the opening to attempt an escape through the door on the left wall.

Gajeel saw what they were doing and extending his arm forward at the constructs. A magic circle manifested in front of his fingers, focusing a current of magic to rush forward through his scales.

"**Iron Dragon's Kunai Barrage!**"

From his hand, swarms of kunai blades fired out from the magic circle and forward at his enemies. The sharp blades eradicated the vulcans with ease before slicing through both mages. Some managed to even find their way to his target, cutting her and making her fall to the ground.

"Sneaky, but weak," Gajeel mocked, looking down at the mages on the floor. He spat on them and cancelled his scales before taking a casual stroll towards Lucy.

The fallen feline's rage grew when she felt the spit go on her head, making her struggle to get up. The wounds she had begun to leak small trails of blood on the ground, but it didn't stop her. Trixie finally managed to get herself up and look over to the iron dragon-slayer, who now had her friend in his left arm.

"Geez, for such a worthless pest, you just don't quit do you?" Gajeel inquired. The feline took a step forward, causing Gajeel to summon his sword and hover it over Lucy's dangling head. "Uh uh. I'd stop right now, that is if you don't wanna see this blond bimbo headless".

Trixie stopped in her tracks, knowing that she couldn't rush in reckless with her friend's life in danger. All her instincts told her to rush, but she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

Gajeel laughed at her, turning around and beginning to head towards the door.

The feline began to go over her options, trying to think of anyway to save her. At that point, the least she could do is give Rodin more incentive to demolish the asshole.

"Alright. Go on then, run back home to your owner," Trixie berated the slayer. "I mean after all, that's all you are to him, his pet dog who listens at his beck and call. So go on doggy, play fetch and get your treat".

Those words struck Gajeel deep.

The feline could see that his attention was now turned to her when he turned to her, staring at her with irritation. He tossed Lucy aside for a moment, turning his full attention to the feline.

"You're gonna regret talking shit," Gajeel threatened.

"Aww, what's the matter? Puppy get his wittle feewings hwurt?"

That last comment made her regret the place.

Gajeel's forehead vein appeared, pulsing when he got enraged. He summoned up his sword and run right at her. Not giving any chance to counter, the dragon-slayer swung at the feline.

Blood splattered across the wall.

Trixie looked down to find that he had cut her right across the stomach. It wasn't deep enough to be serious, but there was a considerable amount of blood.

He followed up with a hard iron-covered punch right to her face, sending her flying backwards.

Gajeel's anger started to simmer down, making him spit on her once more to rub it in. He scoffed at the pair and grabbed Lucy, busting down the door to go through.

The feline laid on the floor, feeling herself losing consciousness.

"_Damn, it hurt more than I expected, but that should give him some rage. Rodin, beat that bastard to the ground.._" were the last thoughts Trixie had before she fell unconscious, lying down in a small puddle of her blood.

Both she and Reedus now laid there in the destroyed safe house, bleeding and unconscious.

* * *

_**Phantom Lord **_**_Fortress_**

_**Basement**_

The ambiance of the basement wasn't for the faint of the heart. Right then and there, it was nothing more than a small war-zone. Pieces of the wall and ceiling spread all over the ground as a result of spells missing their target. Some of the cells doors broke off.

Anyone who entered would think a twister passed through there.

They'd be wrong.

The blur of two figures passed through the area. Both appearing and disappearing almost instantly. Both revealed to be Rodin and Angela.

Both mages had now reached an anger that made them ignore their surroundings. When one sent another flying, they would crash once more into a wall, and just go back on the offensive. Their counters matched each other's, making it difficult for either side to get the upper hand.

The fighter's fists collided with one another. The impact generated a shock-wave. It's force was strong enough to throw them both backwards. They tumbled on the ground for a few feet.

Both immediately got up when they stopped. When they stood up, the light revealed them covered head to toe in bruises and cuts from their attacks.

"Is that all you got?!" Angela goaded, giving a cocky smile.

"Not even," Rodin retorted.

He took a deep breath and began to focus his magic energy more precisely. When he did, the energy transferred to his arms, changing the color pigmentation of his skin to a darker gray shade.

"**Stone Dragon's Twin Bombardment!**"

Right when he shouted,miniature pillars of stone sprouted from both his arms. Rodin aimed them up, causing them to upward, almost nearing the ceiling.

He demonstrated great control over his own magic.

Before it could hit the roof, the dragon-slayer manipulated them, arching them down. It now looked like the pillars were raining down on top of Angela. Leaving her little room to counter or defend.

Making haste, the black-haired mage used her reflexes the best she could. Trying her best to move gracefully like a leaf through the attack. Despite her almost angelic-like movements, she still got cut up by some of the pillars.

Though she managed to escape the rest with little damage.

Angela exhaled a breath of relief when she managed to evade the attack. The pillars soon began to disappear.

What came next made the woman glad that she could fight back.

In their place was Rodin, who ran towards her with two stone sword arms, attempting to deal twice as much damage.

Angela decided to play his game, focusing her blue aura through her own arms, preparing to go on the offensive.

Both mages collided with their separate spells, each countering to avoid a direct blow by their enemy. The attacks collided and made miniature shock-waves that reverberated through the area. The last direct attacked made a stand-still between the two and show them struggling to overpower the other.

The power struggle got broken when the basement started shaking. The vibrations made the mages stumble backwards, but leaving Rodin more exposed than Angela. Realizing the opening, the blue aura grew brighter as she brought her arms and intertwined her hands.

"**Break Force!**"

A blue manifestation engulfed the connected arms, taking on the appearance of a lion head with it's mouth open. Before the stone-slayer could react, the lion roared and rocketed forward. The head hit him and slammed him right into a nearby wall.

The last attack made Angela take a quick moment to catch her breath. She started feeling the fatigue caused by some of the attacks the dragon-slayer connected.

The black-haired realized that she was losing pace against him.

"Why are you holding back?"Rodin's voice muffled from the rubble he was under. After he spoke, Rodin broke away the bricks that landed on him and looked back to Angela.

"What are you going on about?" Angela inquired, annoying by the causal way he was talking to her.

"You heard me, why aren't you fighting seriously?" he repeated, pushing through the debris. "All the other members of Phantom Lord would easily just go for the low-bows, but you don't. Why is that?".

The question made Angela raise an eyebrow to him.

"What does it matter? You won't live long enough to understand," the black-haired mage threatened.

A few seconds after her statement, Rodin instantly felt his chest constricting. It was like someone was squeezing his chest from the inside. The pain he experienced caused him to fall on his knees, struggling to breath but couldn't.

The black-haired mage knew it was game over.

Angela walked forward to her opponent, stopping in front of him and saw him look up with his face emanating how much pain he was in.

"Just know, I don't got any ill will to you, it's just what I have to do," she confessed.

The woman decided to end the fight once and for all.

Channeling her aura once more into her arm, she produced another sphere of energy. Kicking Rodin in the face, she took aim and readied herself to hit her opponent once more in the chest to finish him off.

The dragon-slayer had a look of defiance in his eyes, almost like he was trying to tell her that he wasn't giving up.

She didn't care what he wanted to say. All she did was close her eyes, praying for forgiveness, and thrusted one last time.

She felt something grabbed her hand, forcing her to open her eyes.

Right before the attack hit, the arm of Angela showed to have been gripped by the stone-covered arm of her enemy.

"I'm...not...DONE!" Rodin choked.

With what little strength he had, Rodin swung her arm to the left and tossed her right into an odd colored patch of the floor.

His trap had now been sprung.

Upon her landing on the spot, a magic circle appeared on the floor. In a matter of seconds, it began to affect that specific area.

Before she knew it, Angela soon became engulf Angela in stone. The woman struggled, trying to break free with her strength, but the stone only got stronger.

Knowing that he didn't have long before she'd break free, Rodin made his move.

He forced himself on all fours, looking over to a small pile of bricks that broke from the ceiling. When he did, the dragon-slayer clawed towards it. Each movement forward made his chest tighten more and more. Soon enough, he started feeling himself light-headed.

In a few more seconds, Rodin would soon die from the world.

Or so he thought.

The dragon-slayer finally made it, grabbing whatever brick was closest. He quickly took a bite, chewing the stone, and forcing it down his throat.

His strength started coming back.

He finished it off and went to work on more, stuffing his face as much as he could.

Inside the rock-like prison, Angela had stopped trying to escape. Instead, she began to focus and channel her magic throughout her body. Due to her magic weakening anything it touches, the prison she was in kept getting weaker and weaker.

When she finally felt it loosen around her, Angela released her magic aura, breaking down the spell her enemy did.

And not a moment too soon.

The woman could feel the strength of Rodin when he slammed his foot into the ground. It shook the area, making her regain focus on the battle.

Though now, Rodin's face had a look of seriousness, something that he hadn't shown yet. Angela knew that the battle would end with this next attack.

"I'm getting a little tired of this, and I'm sure you are too," Rodin inquired. He cracked his knuckles before speaking once more. "Let's finish this right here and now, one attack at full strength, no holding back this time".

His remark made Angela grind her teeth in irritation, making the aura erupt from her body like a volcano.

A few seconds after, the aura around her grew in size, giving her an unusual shape that appeared to look like a fox of sorts.

The physical aspects included a energy-cloaked tail going down her butt, two ears on her head, and two paw-shaped claws on her hands and feet.

"Fine! Let's finish this now!" Angela bellowed before jumping back, upward, and then propelled herself forward towards the stone-slayer.

Rodin didn't move from his spot, taking in a deep breath and calling up his magic with everything he had. The same result as Angela occurred, only instead of taking shape, the dragon-slayer channeled it into his body.

The glowing shined a piercing light that cut through the darkness of the basement.

With his energy now boosted to it's limits, Rodin gripped one of his hands, extending it upwards and morphed it into a stone drill. Though after it appeared, the drill didn't stay that size.

More magic poured in and double it's size to that of a small house, making him widen his stance to support the heavy tool.

"_Remember Rodin. For stone dragons, our strength can lift and crush mountains,_" the voice of his grandmother echoed in his mind.

The advice gave him the last push to end this fight.

"**Stone Dragon's Piercing Drill!**"

The collision between the two of them created a powerful explosion that hit the entire basement.

The end result was that the basement now had a new cell door, twice the size of the other ones. When the dust finally settled, both mages found themselves on the ground, flat on their backs.

Though while Angela had some rubble that pinned her down, Rodin was still free.

The dragon-slayer felt his entire body screaming in pain, feeling like someone had burned him alive. Each move he took made him wince. When he finally managed to stand up, the sound of coughing echoed the room.

He found his enemy, her hands trapped under a large section of the wall.

Rodin made his way towards her and stopped.

Both now looked at each other.

"Guess you beat me," the black-haired mage admitted. She exhaled a breath of upset, knowing what it meant for her. "Just do me a favor, kill me".

Rodin's eyes widened when he heard her request.

"What?! Why?!" he argued, shocked that just one loss and she was ready to die.

"Just do it. Either you do it or someone else will, and I prefer to die with someone who beat me fair and square".

All the dragon-slayer could do was gawk at her, trying to understand what her deal was. He couldn't figure it out. What he did know was that even if she hurt Trixie, he'd never take a life.

A belief that soon gave a new perspective to Angela when she saw him do something out of the blue.

Using what strength he had left, Rodin pulled up the wall off of her. Enough to allow her to wiggle out before he dropped it down.

The pain was too much for him and made him drop to his knees.

The black-haired mage winced in pain when she stood up, feeling like her legs would give way at any time. After standing, she looked over to the man, confused by what he did.

"I told you to kill me," she grumbled. "Why help me, after all I did to you and your comrades?"

She saw the dragon-slayer turn his head towards her.

"It's because I know you helped more than hurt. Giving Trixie magic energy, leaving the note for us to find with Levy. Even I can tell, you're not a bad person".

She gasped at his statement, turning away. Unknown to Rodin, Angela's eyes began to tear up when he said that.

The remark he made reminded her of her mother, the reason she did all the horrid things for Phantom.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**X768**_

_**Spring-Star Village**_

_The harsh season of winter caught the small town unexpectedly, leaving many trying to cope with their situation. The harsh season of winter caught the small town unexpectedly. It left left most trying to cope with their situation. All through the area was white snow, crisp and clean like a washed blanket. Though some found it irritating, others were glad for it's arrival._

_One five year old little girl in particular._

_In the small park located at the center of town, a young child decided to enjoy the winter fun. _

_She had on a small brown winter coat with a checkered scarf around her neck. The child also wore mittens and water-proof boots._

_"Careful Angela, don't stay out too long," a man warned her, making her giggle and wave at him. _

_All Angela did that day was enjoy the winter wonderland she had come to love. Everything for seemed right, until she finally arrived home._

_That day was the turning point for her entire life. _

_When night soon came, she decided that it was time to head home for dinner. While she walked, the young girl heard the sounds of laughter close-by._

_Walking in front of the little girl was another child she knew and her father. Both seemed to be enjoying a simple game of tag._

_"You can't catch me daddy!" she yelled, screaming joyfully when he finally caught her. Her father lifted high into the air before giving her a hug.__The pair arrived at their home, opening the door to enter, leaving Angela alone. _

_She and her mother had been together as far as she could remember. The young child never knew the love of a father, and wondered if he was still alive. _

_All Angela could think of was the times she saw all the other girls spending time with their fathers. Going shopping, eating food, playing. It was all the things she wanted in her life._

_Her mother's illness made it difficult for them to do much, especially play together. It was one of the only things she hated about the town._

_After a few minutes of walking, the young child finally arrived at her home. _

_"Mommy, I'm home," she announced before entering. Angela took off her boots and sweater, hanging it on the coat rack before entering the house. _

_That particular night, her house felt colder than it was outside. _

_She made her way into the home, feeling like something was wrong. The child called out for her mother once more, not getting a response. _

_Angela began to get scared, wondering why her mother wouldn't answer or come greet her at the door. After passing her small living room, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from her mother's room._

_"Mommy..?"_

_There was still no response. _

_Fearing that her mother was in trouble, Angela took a deep breath and moved quietly to her door._

_With her hand's shaking, the little turned the knob, and pulled the door open._

_What she saw next changed her life forever._

_Standing beside her mother's bed was a man with a purple coat on. She couldn't see his face, but felt something odd about him._

_Looking past him, Angela saw her mother lying down, eyes closed and looking pale. _

_Before she could say anything, the man turned around, making her shudder in terror. All she could focus on was how dark his eyes looked. Almost souless, like a doll's eyes. _

_"Ah, my dear," he spoke, making goosebumps run up her arms. "I've been waiting to meet you, I'm sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances"._

_"Who..who are you? Why are you in mommy's room?"_

_"Ah yes. It's not a surprise you don't remember me, you were only a baby when I left after all"._

_What he said next broke her entire world._

_"I am your father, Jose"._

_All Angela could do at that point was gawk in shock at what he said. She didn't understand. Why now? Why would he come to see them now after so long?_

_Before she could ask, the girl noticed that an energy from her mother left her body and entered Jose's._

_"What are you doing to mommy?" she inquired, feeling like it was something bad. _

_"Well dear Angela, I'm afraid that mommy needs to sleep now, so I'm taking something from her," he remarked. _

_When the glowing stopped, her mother's color returned, but still stayed unconscious. Angela attempted to go towards her, only to have her father block her path._

_"I wanna see mommy!"_

_"I'm afraid mommy can't hear you my dear. She's sick and I healed her, but at a cost. Angela, do you want mommy to die?"_

_The child gave a look of horror, shaking her head as tears began to pool around her eyes. _

_"Good. Pack your things, if you want mommy to live, you will come with me. I will teach you to become a mage and show you power. If you promise to obey and do everything, she lives"._

_At that point, all Angela could do was drop to her knees, letting her emotions out. Her cries echoed through that small town, but nobody came to check on her. _

_The last thing Angela saw that night was her mother's face, the same face that would haunt her for the years to come._

* * *

**_Present_**

"The bastard took away my childhood. Thirteen years of my life, I had to do his bidding," Angela confessed. Tears flowed down her face like a waterfall. All the pain she inflicted on people flashed in front of her.

She would never be able to forget the faces of those she terrorized.

The dragon-slayer looked on, having a look of sadness on his face. He and Angela's story were similar, though the difference was obvious, he understood her more that moment.

All his anger and rage now turned to the man who caused so much pain, Jose.

"Look, Angela," he remarked, making her turn around to look at him, despite the tears. "I know you've had a shit life, believe me, I can relate. If you really do feel guilty for everything, then please, help me find a way to save my friend".

The black-haired mage wiped her eyes, looking down at the ground and thinking about what he had said. Angela wanted nothing more than to see her horrible father suffer. Though if he lost, then her mother would die.

She realized that even if she was around, she'd look at her daughter with shame.

Angela decided to break free for good.

"Okay, I'll do it," she announced, standing up and turning towards him. Before Rodin could say anything, the black-haired mage summoned her aura. The black-haired mage focused and made it flow through her hands, making it surround her new friend.

The dragon-slayer was hesitant at first, but soon started feeling his body slowly recovering. After a few minutes, Rodin was back to full strength and health.

"What did you-"

"Shatterpoint works both ways: It can weaken people and strengthen them," She explained. After finishing, the woman walked up to him, placing a hand on his chest.

"Uh, and how does this help me?"

"Just shut up and listen. This building works through teleportation, it's how people move through the levels faster. I can send you to the third floor, but you'll have to make your way to the top. My guess is Gajeel will have taken your friend there".

Rodin looked at her with concern, making her slightly blush.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Angela stuttered, turning her face away. "If it means that bastard finally goes down, I'll help you this once, but that's it".

"I understand," the dragon-slayer acknowledged, closing his eyes. "Alright, let's do it".

Focusing what little magic she had left, Angela managed to call up a magic circle under the dragon-slayer's feet. In mere seconds, the energy enveloped him and made him disappear.

Though not without a price.

She used the last of her power to send him away, causing her to fall down to her knees. All she could do was just submit to the exhaustion, and lie down on her back to look at the ceiling.

"I did good mommy..I did..good.." were the last words the young woman spoke, falling prey to magic exhaustion. The last thing that came from her was a tear drop.

With Rodin back at full strength, the war between the guilds would soon reach it's most critical state. One that would decide it's victor.

* * *

_**Man, it feels good to finally move forward in the story. Now for reference guide: Angela's energy cloak and lion attack are similar to Naruto's Nine-Tailed Fox Cloak and Hinata's lion palm jutsu. The shatterpoint magic is based off of an ability found in Star Wars, while the sphere spell is based off of the Rasengan. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it's so great to continue my posting once again. In addition, I'd like to thank Last Comet and BananaBubblegumMania for helping me with my edits. Stay tuned for Chapter 11: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail Part VI - Dragon's Brawl Part I.**_


	11. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part VI

_**Chapter 11**_

**_Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail_**

**_Part VI_**

**_Dragon's Brawl - Part 1_**

* * *

_**East Forest**_

**_Hut_**

Deep within the calm and tranquil forest stood a small constructed hut. Light spilling down from the canopy of leaves, gently caressed it. All that anyone could hear from it was the sounds of clattering glasses.

Though if anyone tried to reach closer, they'd see a wooden sign stabbed in the floor in front.

All that it said was _**No Human Allowed**_.

Inside, the shadows of two figures had shown with one lying down on a bed. The other was sitting down at what looked like a medical work area, swirling around elixirs in beakers and test tubes. The light shined through the window in front of her, revealing the figure to be a woman.

She was an elderly slim woman with pink hair tied into a bun on the back of her head. The bun had two large pins with crescent moon-shaped edges holding it. Her forehead had two bangs of hair left framing her face.

Her attire consisted of a dark green blouse with a tie around the collar, paired with a matching skirt and simple shoes. Over it, she sported a crimson-colored cape with a wide collar, which had sharp dragon's teeth. The teeth showed to protrude upward from the collar, edged with white, arch-like motifs.

The woman's stone-like focus soon came to an end when she heard the sound of moving.

Turning over, she saw her patient had finally woken up and sat up.

Makarov exhaled a sigh of relief, looking over to the woman.

"You're finally up," she greeted him, standing up from her chair and walked to the bed. "Quite a surprise, I half-expect it to take weeks to regain your magic."

"As did I, thank you, Porlyusica," he admitted, standing getting out from the bed.

The master's attire now was that of a simple robe with Fairy Tail's insignia stitched into the front.

"Where do you think you're going?" Porlyusia questioned, noticing that he went to grab his jacket that was on a nearby chair.

"My children need me. I cannot just sit idly in wait."

"You know what might happen if you go. You're still not at full strength."

"Since when I have ever listened to your suggestions?"

The master began to put on his jacket, feeling a wince of pain from moving his arm. He ignored it and finished getting dressed.

"It's a chance I must take, not just for my children, but for Fairy Tail," he declared.

Makarov walked over to where the door was, opening it with his left hand. Before he went out, the master turned around to look at the woman.

"Thank you for all your help."

With one last smile, the Guild-Master exited the hut and closed the door behind him, leaving Porlyusia alone to scoff.

She hated how somethings had never changed.

The woman then turned her attention to a few paintings close by. One in particular was her when she was younger, standing behind a younger-looking Makarov with a full head of hair.

Next to it was one she walked over to, seeing herself from about twenty years ago. Next to her, there stood an older version of Fairy Tail's newest Dragon-Slayer, who smiled with a wide-grin.

"If only you were here Adrian, maybe that old goat would listen to you," she muttered to herself.

The healer sighed in exhaustion, going towards her broom and going outside. At that point, she wanted to just pray and hope that they all succeed.

The booming echoes from Magnolia resonated throughout the entire forest. It was a sign that the war was not yet over, and that soon a victor would emerge.

* * *

**_Magnolia_**

**_Fairy Tail Guild-Hall_**

All across the front area of the building, battle between both guilds continued to rage. Fairy Tail kept pushing forward against the swarms of specters that bombarded them. All to distract them to allow the humanoid giant to complete it's work.

The giant's slow moving hand was drawing a large magic circle in the air. After what seemed like hours, the circle was soon finished, causing a bright glow that surrounded the entire area.

The specters stopped their attack and waited for the spell to initiate.

Most of Fairy Tail realized that the spell Phantom attempted to use was **Abyss Break**.

A forbidden spell that combined all characteristics of the four elements, releasing its devastating power.

Though some of the members realized t

"We're in trouble," Macao declared.

"Yep, we're done for," Wakaba admitted, looking up to the giant.

Everyone else in Fairy Tail felt a sense of dread come over them, realizing that they lost. There was nothing that could stop the attack.

Despite the odds, one mage still had hope.

"Don't back down!" Cana announced, making them all turn towards her. "We've come too far to just give up! Remember, Natsu and the others are still there, we still have a chance!".

The declaration she made soon came to pass.

The entire ground under them began to shake, making them turn towards the giant. All braced themselves for the spells full attack, only to find the magic circle disappearing from the air.

Fairy Tail soon realized that their comrades had finally defeated all members of the Element 4. Thus cutting off their connection to the giant's element power and neutralizing the spell.

After a moment of silence, cheers of joy soon echoed through the area.

"It's stopped!"

"I can't believe it!"

All the sounds of joy made them hopeful that there was still time, that their battle wasn't over yet.

Cana looked around and smiled, feeling glad that her words of reassurance followed through.

Though soon the cheers would die down.

Some members yelled out in shock, making Cana turn around to see Reedus coming towards them. She saw that he had been severely injured, but the shock wasn't towards him, it was to who he was holding.

"Trixie!" the card mage exclaimed in shock, rushing over to the duo.

The feline, still wounded and unconscious, had blood stains on her white fur.

"What happened?" Macao inquired, looking down at the cut that was on the feline's stomach.

"We failed our task," the Pict-mage revealed, looking away in shame. "Gajeel found us, taking us both down and capturing Lucy.."

That remark made everyone look in horror.

After the feline got placed on the ground, a few members came rushing to her, trying their best to stop the bleeding.

Cana growled in anger and turned her head to the fortress.

"_Guys, hurry. Finish this,_" she thought to herself, tightening her fist in anger.

With that one prayer, all the card-mage could do was wait and hold off what forces remained with her comrades.

While the battle raged on down on the ground, inside the fortress, another would soon erupt and bring down Jose's master plan.

* * *

_**Phantom Lord Fortress**_

The sound of rushing footsteps and breaking walls echoed through the fourth level area. Moans and wails of Jose's specters soon became silenced. And the screams of Phantom's mages sprinkled on top with a large explosion that followed.

Through all that senseless destruction, the footsteps kept coming. Until the person behind them revealed themselves.

Rodin Clark.

After Angela had teleported him out of the lower levels, the dragon-slayer moved upward. He encountered many obstacles that tried to stop him.

Despite them all, he made it through without any serious injury.

All he could think of was what he saw with his Stone-Sensing.

The mages that arrived at the fortress, including Gray, Elfman, Mira, and Erza, all had managed to gather together.

Rodin saw the defeat of three out of the Element 4 while he ran. All he knew was that the enemy now only had one last person left standing.

After stopping near a flight of stairs, he decided to take a breath, feeling his entire body dripping with sweat. He had been running nonstop since he left the 1st floor.

"Thank you grandma," he muttered, remembering how much endurance training the dragon-slayer did.

A few deep breaths later, Rodin slammed his fist hard into the floor. The vibrations he sent out managed to pick up everyone still on that level, only now with both Natsu and Happy.

He saw that the Aria, Leader of the Element 4, was on the ground. They had succeed in defeating him and stopping the magic circle that Rodin saw the giant shaping with his hand.

The dragon-slayer smiled and continued with his running, feeling his second wind within him. He soon found himself reaching another large area and stopping.

Another look into his map, Rodin saw he was getting closer to the top. Which is where he saw Lucy was and kept prisoner by Gajeel and a couple other mages.

His plan originally was to try and find the others so they could go on and attempt to fight the Wizard-Saint. Though with the transformation of the fortress, the paths lead to a different route and now he had to focus on getting to his friend.

Before he continued, a familiar feeling of despair soon reverberated through the area. The dragon-slayer realized Jose finally entered the battle. His legs felt like buckling under the pressure, but didn't.

Rodin didn't have time to see who he was fighting and continued onward, now running harder to make it to Lucy.

At the top of the fortress, the blond-haired mage had her own troubles to worry about.

* * *

_**Top Floor**_

"Aaah!" the voice of Lucy yelled out, slamming right into the wall then the floor.

Inside the highest room of the guild, Lucy found herself covered head to toe in scratches caused by Gajeel, who had a look of boredom on his face. The mages behind him looked on with concern for the prisoner.

They felt like he was taking the punishment too far.

"Gajeel, maybe you should stop dude," one mage remarked. The Dragon-Slayer turn his head towards the person. "After all, Jose made it clear that he didn't want her hurt."

"Well what else am I suppose to do?" he replied, turning back to her and summoning his Iron Club. "Can't believe the Master gets to have all the fun and I'm stuck babysitting this worthless girl."

He walked forward, stopping right in front of the struggling mage.

"Besides, it's all in good fun".

"Yeah but, if the Master catches you doing this, we're all screwed".

Right when the he replied, the spell hit him right in the face, crashing him into the wall.

"Shut up," Gajeel retorted, annoyed by the man's talking. "It's not like the Master cares anyway, to him, she's just a piece of Fairy Scum. It was her choice to become a mage, she knew what the consequence would be if this happened".

"This is getting out of hand, she's had enough," a tanned bald man added.

"He's not gonna like this that's for sure," the woman next to him remarked.

"Heh, well if he does, I'll be sure you two get the blame for it," the dragon-slayer commented.

"Please don't," the duo objected, making Gajeel laugh loudly.

"I pity her," the dragon-slayer continued, turning around to see him. "Her own guild didn't want her at all until they learned about who she really was".

That remark made Lucy chuckle with a smug tone.

Gajeel widened his eyes when he heard the laugh.

The blond-haired mage managed to stand up, turning her head to the dragon-slayer.

"I can't believe someone like you is even alive. You're so pitiful it makes me sick".

The mages behind Gajeel gawked in shock, praying that the girl would shut up.

"Phantom Lord, ruler of the spirits, bullshit," Lucy began. "If this is your best at trying to scare me, it's laughable".

"I'd watch that mouth of your's girlie," Gajeel retaliated. He sent another Iron Club right into her stomach, slamming her right into the wall behind her and breaking it. "You have some nerve talking trash, especially considering where you're at right now".

He released his club, making Lucy drop down once again onto her knees. She coughed up a bit of blood from the attack, causing it to dribble down the side of her face.

"Please...What are you? Nothing more than a mutt following orders. I bet Jose comes gives you a treat every time you do a good job, doesn't he?".

The taunting Lucy did began to make her punisher mad, causing veins to pulse through her forehead.

"Go ahead, finish me off, it won't matter. When my friends find me, you'll be dead. They won't ever stop hunting you, there's no where you can go or hide!" She declared with confidence.

That was the final straw on Gajeel's patience.

Ignoring the calls of his fellow guild-mates, the dragon-slayer jumped upward, dive-bombing towards her. Both hands now bearing his iron club. He knew that the sounds of her screams would soon be music to his ears.

Though on that day, he would hear no melody.

From the ground, flames erupted upward in a dramatic flare. Gajeel couldn't figure out what happened next as suddenly he felt a fist connect with his face. The punch sent him crashing right into a close wall.

The figure that punched him landed on the ground, still covered in flames, but now roaring in rage.

Natsu Dragneel had finally arrived.

"I knew it, he was here after all," the iron dragon-slayer muttered, gaining a smile on his face.

"It's Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, happy to finally see her teammate there.

"GAJEEEL!" the pink-haired mage roared out, slowly turning from a human roar to a dragon's roar.

Before anyone could say anything, another blast came from the door of the room. The Phantom mages and Lucy turned their sights there, now seeing a second figure enter the area.

Gajeel and Natsu both knew the scent.

The figure passed through the rubble and cloud of dust, revealing it to be Rodin, bearing a look of intense rage. Unlike Natsu, the stone dragon-slayer's aura had erupted in a similar manner to Makarov.

Though the power wasn't near the level of the Guild-Master.

Walking into the room, he stopped right near where the other two Dragon-Slayers were standing. Instead of looking side-to-side, he turned his full attention right to Gajeel.

"Rodin!" the blond-haired mage exclaimed once more.

"Are you okay Lucy?" Rodin inquired, not taking his eyes from his enemy.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just glad you two are here now."

"She's not the only one," the Iron Dragon-Slayer added, standing up from the floor. "Was wondering when you two princesses would finally arrive. I was getting really bored."

"That a fact? Guess what asshole. Unlike you Phantom scum, Fairy Tail looks after our own," Natsu blurted out, causing the flames to grow larger.

"You're about to get your ass handed to you," Rodin added, cracking his knuckles. "Lucy, hang back. This will get ugly."

The blond-haired mage smiled at the two and nodded.

"Perfect. I'm ready to finally end both of your miserable lives!"

With that one statement, the battle between the trio dragon-slayers began.

They all rushed forward, each of them charging up their magics. Gajeel began by releasing an Iron Club forward, attempting to hit Natsu, but got stopped by the pink-haired mage. His hands, now engulfed with fire, grabbed the spell and swing it around, sending him flying right into Rodin.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer connected a punch that hit right on Gajeel's face, sending him soaring right into the wall. Though instead of crashing the iron dragon-slayer stood upward on the wall.

Before he could react, both Natsu and Rodin already appeared in front of him. Gajeel put up his club, blocking both of the attacks.

The force of the shock-wave broke the wall behind him. Along with that, flames erupted from the attack and spread wildly out, catching the other Phantom mages.

Jumping from the cloud of dust, Gajeel attempted to get some visual on his foes. He found Natsu. The glare of his opponent, along with his fists encloaked in flames, made the black-haired mage hesitate.

Leaving him wide open to receive the Dragon-Slayer's attack, sending him into another wall.

The impact cracked the wall and made Gajeel bleed a bit from the side of his mouth. After he wiped it off, the Iron Dragon-Slayer sensed another attack coming, looking up to find Rodin diving at him..

"**Stone Dragon's Mace!**"

One hand had a large spiked orb in place of his fist, making for one dangerous attack.

Gajeel's quick thinking allowed him to cloak his hands in iron and block the attack from hitting him. Despite that, the force of the blow forced Rodin backwards.

Back near the unaltered wall, Lucy could do nothing but gawk in awe of what she was witnessing.

"Hey, there you are," a voice announced, making her look over to see the blue feline enter the area.

"Happy!" she replied. Her attention soon turned back to the fighting dragon slayers.

"Is something wrong?" Happy inquired, looking to the direction of where she was staring at.

Gajeel had now found himself in front of both his opponents, making him focus both of his iron clubs at them. The blows connected, making them both slam into the wall.

The attack didn't last.

Rodin and Natsu slammed their fists against the pillar, forcing it off of them.

"I just... I've never seen Natsu look like that," Lucy commented, shocked at how mad her partner was.

"Yeah, he's really fired up this time. I wouldn't want to be that guy," the feline assured her.

Back at the fight, Gajeel cracked his jaw and his neck, feeling the tension he got from the last couple of attacks. He smiled when both mages glared at him.

"Gotta say. I'm glad you worthless fairies aren't boring, otherwise I would've ended this already,".

"Big talk coming from Phantom scum," Rodin declared.

"We're gonna wipe that smile off you're face. I'll be sure to melt it off too as pay back for what you did to Lucy," Natsu added.

His summoned his fire to further his point.

"Try it if you can!"

They rushed for one another once more, only this time Gajeel had one hand with his club. He and Natsu collided their fists, but then the Iron Dragon-Slayer used his empty hand to make a club and hit Rodin. The Stone Dragon-Slayer got sent flying right into one of the machines, triggering an explosion.

With Rodin out of the way, Gajeel and Natsu went on a one-on-one brawl, both now hitting each other with their spells. Their counterattacks evenly matched the other.

Though the small battle soon changed when Gajeel switched his club into a sword, swinging in an attempt to cut Natsu.

Thanks to his nimble body, he jumped back and evaded the cut.

"Geez, that's one sharp sword you got," Natsu panted.

"Gi hi, this is the **Iron Dragon Sword**," Gajeel added. The sword had a wide blade and jagged sides. Though when he poured magic into it, the sword turned into a buzz saw. "Let's see how you like a haircut".

"Ooo, I'm so scared!" Natsu taunted.

"How can he do that?!" Lucy inquired, shocked by what she was witnessing.

"His **Iron Dragon Slayer Magic** makes it happen!" Happy exclaimed.

The Iron Dragon-Slayer jumped up, laughing manically and swinging it towards Natsu.

The blade never connected.

Out of nowhere, a blur passed Natsu and collided right in that mid-air with Gajeel's sword. It showed to be Rodin. Both arms were once again covered with stone, but now had a different texture and color to them.

The Iron Dragon-Slayer grinned, pushing down and making them both land on the ground.

"You think your weak stone can stop my iron?!" he mocked, attempting to break off and cut his enemy.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer suddenly gripped on the buzz saw. Soon after, sparks started flying out when the iron collided with Rodin's hands.

Despite the sharpness of his blade, all Gajeel could see was how the stone didn't break off.

"You think that my stone is easily cut?!" Rodin addressed, moving the sword away and punching him hard.

The black-haired slayer felt something different with the punch, it was harder than before. He got sent skidding backwards, stopping after a few feet.

"What the hell? My iron should've cut your fingers off!".

"Guess you got a lot to learn, iron dick," Rodin mocked, changing his own hand into a sword for himself. "Unlike other Dragon-Slayers, I can change my rock to any type of stone I want. What you hit was my arm cloaked in granite, meaning you can't cut it!"

Gajeel's face gave a smile.

Both slayers now rushed at each other, swinging away as the swords collided with one another. With each collision, sparks flew out and pieces of iron And stone broke off after many strikes.

Gajeel's focus on Rodin left him wide open to Natsu's attack from the side.

"F**ire Dragon's Talon!**"

His foot was now engulfed in flame, adding more strength when he delivered a spinning kick to his opponent's head. The attack sent him slamming a few feet away into the floor and cracking the ground beneath him.

Both he and Rodin looked on to see if that was enough to take him down.

All they heard was laughter when their opponent started standing up.

"Now this is more like it!" the Iron Dragon-Slayer admitted, turning to them with excitement on his face. "Now we can really get started!"

With that one remark, he soon triggered a magic circle that appeared at the bottom of his feet. Once activated, his body soon began to change appearances. His skin from normal into a sheet of iron scales all over his body.

"**Iron Dragon's Scales!**"

Natsu, along with Lucy and Happy, gave a shocked look at his change. Except for Rodin, who had already seen something like this before.

"He's changing," Lucy stated.

"Dragon Scales!" Happy responded.

"You ready, fairy scum?!" the cloaked dragon-slayer addressed, rushing towards them.

Rodin quickly mimicked his opponent's spell, cloaking himself in stone scales before running forward.

"**Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!**"

Gajeel threw a punch that his enemy countered with his own. Though when the attack connected, a magic circle emerged right on the fist, creating a powerful shock-wave.

The impact broke off the Stone Dragon-Slayer's scales off, shocking him. A second punch from Gajeel sent Rodin flying, tumbling on the floor until he stopped against the wall.

He coughed some blood from his mouth in the process.

All Rodin could hear after stopping was another crash right next to him. Some of the rubble fell on him, making up push himself up to see who was next to him.

He gawked when it was Natsu, holding his arm with a bruise already developing where Gajeel punched it.

"Haha, hearing you both get hit was like a song for me," the Iron Dragon-Slayer admitted, making them both turn towards him.

Lucy and Happy both had looks of utter horror at what they just saw.

"Both Rodin and Natsu got taken down so easily," the blond-haired mage shuddered, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Those scales must be stronger than steel," her feline friend added.

Gajeel began walking towards them, making Natsu roar out in anger and attempt to go on the offensive once more. Even with his monstrous strength, the fire dragon-slayer was getting his butt kicked.

Ducking under his kick, Natsu saw how much force he could deliver when wind generated from the attack. It cut through the floor and made it way to Lucy, making her put her arms up to keep dust from coming into her eyes.

The Fire Dragon-Slayer attempted to deliver his own attack. He threw his **Fire Dragon Iron Fist **right into Gajeel's face.

There was no sign of feeling pain or scratch upon impact.

"You moron! Did you really think you're puny punch could make even a dent on my body?!" the Iron Dragon-Slayer mocked, watching Natsu yell out in pain.

His scales were too dense for him to break off, making his attack only succeed in dealing himself damage.

"No, Natsu!" Lucy and Happy called out. What Natsu did made both give a confused look.

"I'm fine!" the Fire Dragon-Slayer assured them, rolling on the floor while holding his fist, trying to hide his pain. "Doesn't hurt one bit!"

"I'm sure..." Lucy muttered to herself.

"Quit faking!" the Iron Dragon-Slayer yelled out, forcing Natsu up and slamming him back to the ground. "You just don't wanna cry like baby do you?!".

Before Gajeel could deliver another blow, a punch hit him right in the cheek. Despite it not hurting the Iron Dragon-Slayer, the force was enough to push him back, scraping the floor in the progress.

He turned around to see Rodin's fist bleeding from his knuckles.

Due to his training since his childhood, the Stone Dragon-Slayer could hardly feel much from his hand. It made it easier for him to punch without worrying about the pain from it.

"I didn't need your help," the Fire Dragon-Slayer grunted, annoyed by how his rival saved him.

"Oh shut up," Rodin replied, keeping his focus on his opponent. "I'm about to beat him so just stay back".

The Stone Dragon-Slayer took in a deep breath, drawing in a large amount of air into his lungs. The other two Dragon-Slayers recognized what he was doing.

Gajeel and Natsu mimicked his action, getting ready to release their own versions of the spell. All three put their hands like they were holding a trumpet and blew into them.

"**Fire Dragon's-**"

"**Stone Dragon's-**"

"**Iron Dragon's-**"

"They're all using the same spell?!" Lucy inquired, shocked by what was about to happen.

"**ROAR!**"

All three released their individual roars, creating an incredible shock-wave. The force reached all people around the vicinity.

Gajeel's roar had similar characteristic's as Rodin's, only instead of it being rocks. The roar of the iron dragon-slayer was metal shrapnels.

Natsu and Rodin's roar combined together, colliding with their opponents. The force of the spells proved too evenly match and when it couldn't keep the shape, An explosion occurred.

The blast broke apart the wall, causing everyone outside on the battlefield to look up at what occurred.

When the dust started to settle, some of Phantom's mages appeared buried underneath some rubble. Most were wondering why they bothered to stick around in the first place.

On the other side of the room, Lucy and Happy had managed to evade not having anything dropped on them. All they had was a headache from hitting the wall.

The real dilemma was what all saw near the large hole in the room.

Both Rodin and Natsu's bodies were bleeding from the impact of Gajeel's shrapnels. Their shirts got torn up, but remarkably, the Stone Dragon-Slayer's leather jacket remained unscratched.

"Haha, guess that difference between iron and your elements is pretty clear huh?" Gajeel's voice announced.

When the duo saw their enemy, both realized that the attack hadn't affected him at all.

The only injury he sustained was that his shirt had ripped apart.

"Even after those two roars, my body's still standing!"

"You basta-" Rodin began to say but suddenly felt light-headed. He fell to his knees, coughing up some blood, making Natsu look at him with concern.

"What's wrong?" he inquired, confused by what was wrong with Rodin.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer's body felt like millions of needles pierced him at once. The spell he sent out drained more energy than he expected.

"_Shit, my body's still not healed from that last fight with Angela,_" he thought to himself. Her magic could strengthen people with its aura, allowing them to fight and endure better than they could alone.

Rodin gained a boost of energy and numbness to that pain, but now that he exhausted the energy. His body's damage was catching up to him.

He reached his limit sooner than expected.

"Pathetic. For someone who's suppose to be strong, you're pretty worthless," Gajeel mocked. He added insult to injury by making his Iron Club propel forward, slamming him against the wall.

"Rodin!" Lucy yelled in horror.

"Bastard!" Natsu went on the offensive, defending his rival before his opponent could launch another attack at him.

Rodin vision began to go blurry after the crash, causing him to slowly losing consciousness. He had reached the limit of his fight and couldn't go on.

Everything around him sounded muffled, the explosions that occurred, yelling. All it sounded to him was just one high pitched whine.

Slowly but surely, the Stone Dragon-Slayer fell flat on his face trying to stand up.

All he could do was feel the darkness begin to spiral around him, almost like it was waiting for his entrance into the void of dreams.

It's blissful embrace would not come to pass.

From out of nowhere, he soon started to hear the roars of a Dragon. It wasn't just any regular one, the roar sounded exactly like his grandmother, Terrageneis.

Whether it was due to the concussion he had or an illusion didn't matter to him.

He just wanted to listen to her soothing voice once more.

It made him dream about a memory he had long forgotten from his youth, something that would give him the power he needed.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**X774**_

_**Rodin's House**_

_**Forest Cave**_

_It was an early morning in Hinder Village, most of its villagers weren't even awake at the time. Most still found comfort in their warm beds._

_All except for Rodin Clark._

_The young boy was shivering in his training outfit, rubbing his arms in an attempt to get warm._

_His attire consisted of a brown tight gi, loose fitting pants, and him barefooted._

_The young Dragon-Dlayer looked over to where his grandma had entered deeper into the mountains. After waking him up, she had explained that he would receive a special lesson that morning and a gift._

_His eyes threatened to droop, allowing him to finally gain some rest. Though the rumbling of giant footsteps woke him up._

_His grandmother had returned._

_The large lumbering dragon stepped into the make-shift light that she had created to see. Terrageneis stopped in front of her grandson, dropping something she had in her mouth._

_Rodin moved out of the way, seeing the large rock split right down the middle._

_What was inside shocked Rodin, making his eyes almost sparkle in awe._

_Inside of it was crystals, both halves of the rock lined with them. Something the boy hadn't ever seen before in his life._

_"What is it grandma?" he inquired, walking towards it to get a better look._

_"This, my dear, is called Quartz Crystal. It's similar to ordinary rock, but very different," she replied. The dragon grabbed one half and easily ate it like nothing. "Now, I want you to try and eat just one single one."_

_Rodin raised his eyebrow, confused by why she'd consider this special training. He had already mastered eating his element. _

_He shrugged and grabbed a single piece from inside. It was a bit hard to pull out, but after a few seconds, he finally broke a piece off of it. Rodin turned it to the side, trying to get an idea of what was so special about it. He gave it a small lick, finding the taste to be amazing. The Dragon-Slayer licked his lips, thanking his grandma before opening his mouth and taking a bite. _

_The first bite was the most painful he had ever experienced._

_"Owie!" he bellowed out, covering his mouth in hopes that it would heal his teeth. A few pain tears dropped down his eyes, making Terrageneis chuckle._

_"Not so easy, is it?"_

_"No! Why would you make me do that, grandma?!"_

_"Rodin," she began to explain, slashing at the rock to slice it in halves once more. "We Stone Dragons have the capability of eating all minerals that exist in the natural world. Even so, some may prove more difficult than others."_

_"So how am I suppose to eat it?" he inquired, finally feeling the pain go away._

_She grabbed the other half and easily ate it without any trouble once again._

_"This connects to how one controls their own magic. You have to focus it around not just outside body, but inside as well. When one can control it and change its properties, you'll be able to eat any form of mineral, even when they're tempered."_

_She laid flat down on her stomach, facing her grandson. Terrageneis closed her eyes and focused her energy. _

_The boy could feel her aura shifting, almost like it was becoming another form. He somehow felt like what she was talking about._

_Rodin looked at the crystal in his hand, replicating what his grandma was doing. He felt his body becoming different, adjusting to whatever he wanted. _

_He went for a second bite once more, remembering how hard it was and trying to make his teeth harder. _

_The trick worked._

_The bite only went through halfway, but he still managed to get some small pieces in his mouth. Rodin began to chew, causing a bit of drool to seep out from his mouth. For the first time in his young life, he had tasted gourmet food._

_"Wow! This is really good!"_

_"Haha, yes it is. You've still got a long way but I'm confident that with training, you'll soon be able to eat any kind of related mineral". _

_Her praise made Rodin laugh, but he stopped when someone landed on his head. The boy reached with his free hand, grabbing it._

_The object was a necklace with a stone at the end._

_"What is this grandma?"_

_"Something special. If you ever feel weak or in need of more energy, bite into it. Do not depend on it, the energy only lasts for five minutes."_

_"Why do I need this grandma?"_

_All the dragon did was lift her talon to him, gently rubbing his head and smiling. _

_To that day, he never knew why she didn't answer his question. The curiosity of it soon passed the more he continued training, eventually forgetting about it's function. _

* * *

**_Present_**

"That's it!"

The Stone Dragon-Slayer finally gained consciousness and looked forward. He saw that much had changed due to his unconsciousness.

Natsu and Gajeel had gotten into a severe fight, causing more destruction to not just the inside of the room, but outside as well.

It was like multiple bombs exploded around the area.

Now, the Iron Dragon-Slayer stood a few feet from the pink haired Dragon-Slayer, who was lying down near the large hole, struggling to get back up.

The damage from Gajeel's attacks proved too much for him.

Rodin knew he did not have much time left and grabbed his necklace. Remembering the memory, he bit the scale.

"I'm..not done...yet," Natsu declared, panting heavily due to his body starting to wear down.

"You're done, Salamander" Gajeel mocked, starting to walk towards him.

Meanwhile, Happy and Lucy watched, realizing that Natsu's power was running out.

"Damn it, there's gotta be some kind of fire we can give him," Lucy pointed out. She looked through her keys, hoping to see if any of Celesital Spirits could give them a hand, none could.

Happy yelled out in shock, making the Celestial-Spirit mage look over as well, realizing what shocked him.

While Natsu still tried to get up, Gajeel had begun eating bits and pieces of iron around the floor. They realized that he would regain his strength soon.

The Iron Dragon-Slayer finished eating, grinning evilly and walking towards his opponent.

He stopped in his tracks when Rodin landed in the middle of them , holding his arm in pain, but standing tall nonetheless.

"I thought I got rid of you?" Gajeel inquired, raising his eyebrow in annoyance.

"Takes more than some worthless attack like your's to bring Me down," he taunted, grinning at Gajeel.

"All bark, no bite. Even you're loser comrades realize that's all you got," the Iron Dragon-Slayer mocked.

Natsu growled at his disrespect to Rodin, attempting to stand up but finding himself still weak.

"Oh well, I guess if I'm gonna kill someone, might as well kill you".

Gajeel once again inhaled a large amount of air, getting ready to deliver another roar towards him.

"Hey Rubble-Brains, run! Get out of here!" the Fire Dragon-Slayer bellowed out, not wanting him to take the blow.

Rodin ignored his request.

"Lucy!" he shouted, making her look towards him. "Summon up someone who can blast the remaining machine, an explosion should be enough to feed amber-head!"

The Celestial-Spirit mage realized that her comrade was right, gripping her key that had the symbol of Sagittarius. Lucy grabbed it and charged her magic.

"**Open**! **Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!**"

Putting the key in front of her and turning it, a yellow magic circle soon emerged. When the light erupted, a figure soon made it's appearance, fully emerging when it stopped.

"I'm ready for battle, _moshi-moshi_!" the being saluted.

The being's appearance was that of a tall, black-haired and lanky man sporting a horse costume. Horse costume aside. Sagittarius's attire consisted of a green shirt with yellow trims. His bottom had a red and yellow pair of striped pants and purple frills.

Lucy looked back, seeing that the Gajeel finished taking in the air. He once again placed his hands like he was holding a trumpet. With him ready, the Iron Dragon-Slayer released his roar right towards Rodin.

The stone dragon-slayer stood his ground between the oncoming attack and Natsu. Rodin fortified himself with **Stone Dragon's Scales** and stood his ground.

"We'll call it even for saving me, asshole."

That last remark was all Natsu heard before the impact.

The blast collided right with Rodin, exploding and swirling up a cloak of dust around the area.

All anyone could see inside was just a fog so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

Everyone there waited for what happened to the Stone Dragon-Slayer.

* * *

_**Surprise, second quick update since I will have to finish up some stuff for school. I will be working on next chapter, which is where we will be finishing off Phantom Lord arc. I just want to thank everyone who's been helping me to make this story better. My Betas Lastcomet and BananabubblegumMania. I'd also like to give thanks to Pokemonking, who provided me with some new spells for Rodin. Well guys, enjoy the chapter and stayed tune for the finale, Chapter 12: The Dragon's Brawl part II. **_


	12. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part VII

_**Chapter 12**_

_**Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail**_

_**Part VII**_

_**Dragon's Brawl Part 2**_

* * *

_**Phantom Lord Fortress**_

_**Inside the Giant's Head**_

Within the battlefield, all that surrounded it was a blanket of dust and dirt. Some of the onlookers inside, including Lucy and Happy, tried their best to make out where they were. Most couldn't see their own hands in front of them.

As luck would have it, a strong gust of wind blew in through the open hole, effectively getting rid of the cloud. Soon enough, people inside could see everything.

What everyone saw in the middle of the room, etched into their memory.

The Dragon-slayers were still in their original positions. Natsu still laid down and Gajeel stood with his arms in his roaring position. Though now, the only difference was that the the figure resembling Rodin looked different.

The cloud surrounding him started to blow away. It revealed some disturbing visuals to everyone around.

On the ground under his feet, blood painted the floors around him. It almost looked like someone blew themselves up.

Though the focus wasn't on the blood, it was how Rodin now looked. All around his visible body was a cloak of Dragon Scales, only now, it had a new design. The characteristics of his scales also changed dramatically. His entire body looked like one giant dark brown stone, glossy and smooth out.

Additionally, his hair now appears to have almost solidified, making it look like he has spikes of stone for hair.

"R-rodin?," Natsu stuttered, shocked by what he himself witnessed happened.

Even though it was only seconds, the Fire Dragon-Slayer could never forget the action that transpired.

While the attack collided with Rodin, some of the shrapnels passed over his arms, hitting all over his body. A majority of the scales focused on his face. Despite the impact and cutting, the Stone Dragon-Slayer managed to keep himself standing.

The next part was where the pink-haired mage just couldn't make heads or tails of it.

With the iron bombarding him, Rodin actually opened his mouth wide, taking in some of the shrapnels. He chewed and swallowed them, but it resulted in him coughing out quite a bit of blood. The explosion followed afterwords.

Despite the onslaught he took, it did not break him.

With the cloud of dust, the pink haired Dragon-Slayer was the only one to see his head and arms producing new scales. Only now, the rough patches slowly smooth themselves out, adding what looked like a second layer on top. The two parts merged together, forming one new layer around him.

When the attack finished, Natsu could feel a tremendous increase in magic energy from his rival. It was unlike anything he ever experienced from a Dragon-Slayer, leaving him almost speechless.

Their opponent wasn't so flabbergasted. In fact, Gajeel looked on with irritated by what he was looking at, trying to get a grasp of what exactly went on.

His agitated look soon broke away.

All that came from Rodin was a dark chuckle, echoing through the room. It made most of the Phantom mages in hiding shudder.

They had never heard such a brooding voice, other than their Guild-Master and the Iron Dragon-Slayer.

"**What's wrong? Cat got your tongue,**" the Stone Dragon-Slayer mocked, moving his hands away from his face.

One glance from Rodin made Gajeel shudder.

His eyes now looked pure brown, showing no signs of any form of pupils. Two silver lines ran down from his forehead, passing through both eyes and ending at his jaw.

For everyone, it was like staring into the eyes of a demon.

"**Also, thanks for the meal. Gotta say, iron's pretty tasty when you get past the crunchy texture.**"

Before he could reply, Gajeel immediately saw Rodin disappear. No soon after, he reappear right in front of him, delivering a powerful punch right to his face.

The impact echoed throughout the area, making many of the others wince at the sound it made. A couple more strikes connected, leaving the final one sending him flying right into a wall.

That small section of the room broke down immediately, opening up another large hole like the one behind Natsu

"**Lucy, hurry and get that fire going. I'll keep the iron-douche busy,**" the Stone Dragon-Slayer announced. Lucy's response was her trembling, nodding at her comrade.

She had never heard anyone that like Rodin, except for Jose and Makarov, making her a bit scared by his demeanor.

Her fear soon turned away when the roar of Gajeel echoed.

They turned to see him uprooting from the rubble that buried on top of him, releasing his magical aura that pushed away the rest. He rushed forward, attempting to deliver a powerful punch to Rodin.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer didn't seem troubled.

Before the attack could connect, Rodin countered with his own punch, only his hit faster. The strike collided with his opponent's stomach, and actually knocked the wind out of Gajeel, who still had his scales on.

A second attack from his other arm came in the form of an uppercut, sending his opponent flying straight up to the ceiling.

The crash caused a large amount of the ceiling to break off and land on the ground, with the Iron Dragon-Slayer underneath it.

Rodin pulled back his fist, opening his hand and looking at the palm. The young man felt the form he was in was a lot stronger. The Stone Dragon-Slayer realized that he couldn't fully tap into it just yet.

Gajeel erupted upward from the rubble once again, now enrage by the damage he recieved. He saw Rodin didn't have his attention on him and extended his arm forward.

A magic circle emerged on the tips of his fingers.

"**Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!**"

Turning to where the attack came from, a barrage of spears flew right towards him. The impact of them caused a large cloud of dust to emerge.

"Don't think that just cuz you've got some new power that I'm done for," Gajeel bellowed. "You're nothing! I am **Black Steel Gajeel**! No one can beat me, especially some stupid fairy scum like you!".

He waited a few seconds to hear a response.

"Well?! Where's that cocky tone now?! Still think I'm scared of you?!".

"**Of me? No,**" Rodin's voiced replied from the dust cloud.

Before Gajeel could question his remark, the sound of an arrow fired right near him. The attack hit the machine, causing a powerful explosion.

"Awesome shot Sagittarius!" Lucy announced, causing The Iron Dragon-Slayer to turn towards her.

Her Celestial-Spirit partner, Sagittarius, fired one of his arrows from the quiver on his back.

"A simple machine is no match for my arrows," he replied and saluted.

"Damn that girl! Getting in my-" Gajeel's irritated muttering stopped. He heard the fires from the explosions swirling around. A few seconds after, they began to enter the mouth of Natsu, who finally stood up and was getting his second wind.

He ate the fire in mere-seconds, thanking Lucy for the food. Looking back to Gajeel, the Fire Dragon-Slayer's face had a reignited look of confidence.

"**Of him? You should be,**" the Stone Dragon-Slayer continued. His opponent gave a look in both their directions, realizing now that it was back to two on one.

"Don't think this changes anything between us coal-breath! I still don't like you," Natsu added, cracking his knuckles.

"**Fine with me,**" Rodin replied, cracking his neck.

Both now rushed once again to Gajeel, making him growl with anger that the two wouldn't stay down. Gajeel started his attack with both, sending his own punches to them while they countered with their's.

The force of the attacks were strong enough to deliver shock-waves across the sky. Each one echoed out like a sonic boom the more they fought.

Despite the intensity of the fight growing. None of their attention was on a new powerful magic energy that entered the fortress. The energy belonging to another Wizard-Saint.

* * *

**_Chest Section_**

In one of the larger halls of the fortress, a dark malevolence embodied the area. It was like a dark pool of water, spiraling around and swallowing up all manner of light. It's source came from one single man in the middle, **Jose Porla**.

Light shined down atop the Wizard-Saint, revealing that he changed clothes. His new attire consisted of a long, grayish coat closed on the right side of Jose's chest by a belt circling his waist. Another went over his right shoulder. On the buckle was the Phantom Lord's symbol. The coat had wide golden stripes going down from the high collar. Which sported a pair of large rings hanging from it on the front, to the cuffs.

His Wizard Saint's medallion was still visible on the same spot, but had dark ribbons hanging from it instead. Over his left arm was a brownish cape. It had wide golden-colored stripe near the edges. And some small shield-shaped ornaments placed at the same distance from each other. The outfit finished off with a pair loose pants tucked inside boots.

He looked up, feeling powerful energy coming from above my.

"My my. Never did I expect three Dragon-Slayers fighting at the same time," he chuckled. "Fairy Tail's control over them leaves a lot to be desired though."

His attention shifted back to the person he was talking to, **Erza Scarlet**.

Her outfit changed from her regular armor she wore to her most powerful one, the **Purgatory Armor**.

The armor's appearance was that of a metallic dress, dark slate color with a lighter gray trim. The shoulder guards are a light gray color with a large spike protruding off of it. The arm guards bear a simple weaving pattern with three spikes jutting out, each smaller than the last. The leg greaves start just below her hips. With three progressively smaller spikes protruding starting at the knees. Around her neck is a small necklace of black, diamond shaped jewels. A single horn works its way out from underneath her hair atop her head.

Around her, other figures were on the ground. All unconscious after Jose attacked them. When light came through the window, they revealed to be **Elfman**, **Gray**, and **Mira**.

"It should be no surprise," Erza began explaining. "Natsu is one of the most powerful mages in Fairy Tail, I dare to say even I pale in comparison to his growing power. The only other I can feel has the potential to match him is our new comrade, Rodin. Both are forces that keep this guild standing."

"Oh come now, no need to be so modest," Jose replied. "The power you wield is magnificent, in fact, if you hadn't taken the blast from the **Jupiter Cannon**. You might even have me worried."

Jose lifted one hand forward.

"Not to mention, nobody has ever lasted this long facing me. This simple fact makes me quite sad. This world is full of amazing mages like yourself, yet you decide to align yourself with **Makarov**!"

He made a fist from the hand, focusing some magic energy into it, and flicked his pointed finger.

The intense pressure from that flick aimed right towards the Requip-mage. It propelled her backwards The force slammed her right through the wall.

"Since you won't willingly join Phantom Lord. There's only once course of action left," the Wizard-Saint declared.

Purple orbs began to generate from his fingertips, growing brighter the more time passed. When they were the proper size, Jose released them one at at time, attempting to bring down Erza.

She managed to jump up and fly away, evading the attack.

"**Kill you!**"

Jose continued his onslaught, but despite his fast shooting. The Requip-mage's flying allowed her to move faster. Each attack she dodged broke a part of the area.

"Oh how wonderful the sight will be. Poor Makarov, fallen to despair after waking up to find his own children slaughtered like dogs."

Erza sliced through the dust cloud Jose's attack made, soaring through and attempting to cut down him down to size. Her strike missed, revealing that her opponent moved behind her.

"It's amusing how so many believe that both Phantom and Fairy Tail are equal strength. So many confused by the stories of the **S-Class** mages from Fairy Tail, even the name **Salamander** gave way to such accusations. I WILL NEVER ALLOW SUCH WEAK WORTHLESS PEOPLE DECLARE MY GUILD ON PAR WITH FAIRY TAIL!"

"SILENCE!" Erza bellowed out.

She had enough of Jose's talking and proceeded to swing her blade at him, trying to defeat him. At high speeds, the attacks still couldn't make their mark.

They both stopped once again, glaring at one another.

"This whole entire fight between the guilds is all due to some petty jealousy you have for Fairy Tail?!" Erza inquired, pointing her blade towards him.

"Jealousy? Utter nonsense," Jose retorted, hiding the truth from his voice. "Our only goal in all this is to prove to the **Kingdom of Fiore** that we reign supreme."

"Have you no shame?! All this for recognition?!"

The comment made the Requip-mage attempt to hit him once more. Between the two, all that appeared were blurs moving at near-high speeds. Erza's attacks still proved to shy a few inches from her target, even with her mastery of swordsmanship.

The woman just couldn't lay one hand on the Wizard-Saint.

Jose finally went on the offensive, extending his left hand to send a blast of Darkness that knocked her sword off her hand. He furthered the attack by surrounding Erza with it. It wrapped around her and began to bind her up until the Wizard-Saint caught her in a vice-grip.

The energy from the ooze shocked his opponent, making her scream out in pain.

"This war started only by a simple job offer: To capture and retrieve the heir to the Heartfilia Family," he admitted.

"_Lucy_," Erza muttered to herself. She was in the shower after Fairy Tail's retreat, which meant that she didn't know Phantom's real goal until now.

"The child of one of the wealthiest men in Fiore joined Fairy Tail. So Makarov plans to buy his way to the top does he?!"

Another powerful electric shock hit Erza.

"With access to such wealth, it's guarnteed that Fairy Tail will soon accomplish the rank of strongest. The only snare to that plan is that Phantom Lord will wipe you out before that happens!"

The third electric shock was stronger than the previous two. Though what happened next made Jose look on with confusion.

Erza laughed and smiled.

"It's so amusing how much you care about something so feeble like a guild rank. Though what's even more is that you've been sorely misinformed."

She began to explain that Lucy came to Fairy Tail like any normal person, no wealth or any form of currency. The Requip-mage added that she was more than the wealth of her family or the title of her name. She was their comrade and member of their family.

All of that fell on deaf ears.

"So what?!" Jose retorted. "I've already gotten more than enough wealth for the task! Once this fight is over and we have her, I'll demand even more. All the riches of the Heartfillia Family will belong to me!"

The red electricity erupted and engulfed the Requip-Mage.

His attack didn't stop there.

Lifting his right hand, another purple magic circle appeared. Only this time, the ooze that came from it morphed itself into the shape of two skeletons. Both moved forward to Erza, extending their mouths and inhaling in front of her.

The effect of this caused the Requip-mage to feel like her soul slowly began to separate.

All Erza could hear now was the sound of muffling, which was mostly from Jose's attempt at mocking her and her guild.

The only thing left to do for her was to just hope that Natsu and Rodin would be enough to defeat the Wizard-Saint.

Without her realizing it, she managed to free her hand and focused her energy to the sword. It caused it to float up and float to her, almost like the blade wanted her not to give up.

Before Erza could grab it, light soon engulfed the room.

The soft soothing glow surrounded the Requip-mage. Breaking away the darkness Jose focused on her. Almost like a parent putting their child gently on the ground, Erza found herself placed on the ground with care.

The pain she endured caused her to fall on her knees. Though the Requip-mage noticed that the light managed to fix all the broken parts of her armor and restore her magic energy.

Jose gave a look of irritation, looking up to find the source of the light. He growled at the sight.

Floating in mid-air, was **Makarov**, who arrived just in time to help his guild.

The light's warmth shredded the malevolence in the air, leaving only a heartwarm compassion in it's place. That feeling surrounded the unconscious mages still on the ground, slowly healing them.

Makarov landed on a piece of the broken pillar close by. With his face covered in shadow, he began to speak. "You have shed the blood of our children. They have suffer because of the incompetence of their parents. We both share fault in this Jose, the war between us has gone on long enough."

He lifted his head and revealed a vein pulsing on his forehead.

"Let's end this hear and now!"

A tear dripped down Erza's right eye, making her wipe it off and smile. "Master."

Before the fight between the saints started, something caught the attention of both masters.

Makarov felt the force of another battle still raging, looking up to the ceiling. He realized that the war would soon end when both matches finished for good.

"_Natsu, Rodin. Win my boys, make me proud,_" the Guild-Master thought in his mind.

With the catastrophe that the fight between both Wizard-Saints was sure to bring. All Makarov could do was deal with his own battle, leaving the duo Dragon-Slayers to finish theirs.

* * *

**_Inside The Giant's Head_**

"GRRAHHH!"

The trio roared out, colliding once again with each other that shook the entire room. Both Rodin and Natsu's power still showed growing strong. While Gajeel's body started to actually feel sore from the attacks that he himself had to endure.

The Iron Dragon-Slayer shook off his doubt and went back on the offensive. His Iron Dragon Sword collided with Rodin's arms.

Gajeel's spinning saw still couldn't cut through his scales, but small pieces still got broken off from it.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer's form still stood strong, but the user didn't know how much longer he could hold it. Rodin pushed his opponent back by kicking him with his right foot.

The impact made Gajeel skid backwards.

Though while he skid, Natsu rushed to catch up to him, tightening his fist and delivering another part to the forehead. This time though, the impact not only hit harder, the power cracked it.

He soon went from skidding to soaring right into one of the remaining walls still standing in place.

"No way..." one of the Phantom mages muttered. None of them ever expected that Gajeel would have this much trouble taking down two opponents.

All of them thought they were dreaming.

Gajeel quickly made his way off the wall, landing back down on the ground. He moved a hand towards his forehead, touching the crack in his armor. For the first time in ages, someone broke through his defense.

"_This can't be __happening,_" he began to think to himself. "_I'm Black Steel Gajeel. No one's more powerful than I am, especially not a pair of fairy scum like those two!_"

He looked back up to see his opponents running to him.

"Damn it all!" the Iron Dragon-Slayer bellowed out.

He now took on two Iron Swords that merged with his scales. Only this time, he caused them both to become spinning saws.

Without delay, Gajeel swing his hands one after the other, attempting to cut both of them at the same time.

Rodin's quick counters with his arms and Natsu's nimble reflexes made it more difficult to land a hit. It wasn't until their opponent slammed down both blades that it got them.

The impact from the sharp saws caused the floor to split apart. It made them lose their balance and allowing him to land two successful attacks.

Both felt the sharp blade cut their chests, though unlike Natsu's bleeding chest. Rodin's only had an etched carving into it.

Gajeel didn't stop the momentum.

He soon turned his blades into Iron Clubs and directed them forward to their faces. The impact knocked them both backwards, making them land on their backs a few feet from him.

"Natsu, Rodin!" Both Lucy and Happy yelled out.

Both Slayers felt themselves losing steam, despite them both receiving a boost in energy. The duo struggled getting back on their feet. They couldn't falter and rushed towards their enemy.

Gajeel smirked, running towards them to deliver a barrage of attacks.

Their strikes collided and soon enough, the onslaught broke up with all three jumping up to the air.

Breaking through the ceiling, their battle soon echoed through the sky itself.

When the duo Dragon-Slayers propelled themselves forward, both went separate directions. Rodin's attack aimed at their opponent's left while Natsu tried for his right.

The two found Gajeel's reflexes quicker than they expected. Even with two opponents coming at him, he could still keep his pace with both.

Each attack either one threw got countered by a block or his own attack.

The force from all three echoed throughout the area. It was like thunder boomed throughout the sky.

All anyone could see was blurs moving at high speeds. The battle mid-air soon stopped when the blurs soon crashed back into the head of the giant.

Back inside, the trio now found themselves on separate places of the room. Rodin and Natsu once again found themselves lying down on the ground. Leaving Gajeel still standing, only kneeling on one leg.

They all panted heavily, finding themselves nearly out of energy.

From afar, Lucy couldn't bear seeing the sight of her two friends fighting for her. She had enough and wanted it to stop.

"Natsu...Rodin...don't," she begged. Tears soon started pouring down her face. "You two don't have to do this anymore, just run. Please..."

"...No way..." Both of them remarked, making Gajeel laugh.

"You two idiots just don't know when to just die do you?!" he mocked. "Don't you get it?! Neither of you have any chance! I took down your precious teammates, I destroyed your worthless guild, I can't lose! Especially to the likes of you fairy scum!"

That remark soon made them both start standing up, causing their energies to rise up more.

"**Just how many more people will you guys hurt to keep this going?!**" Rodin growled.

"As many as I want!" Gajeel boasted, rushing towards Rodin in an attempt to strike him.

This time, Natsu stepped between them and delivered a hard punch. The impact threw the Iron Dragon-Slayer into a broken part of the giant that landed inside.

The force behind the collision pushed the entire part backwards, straightening it out.

"No way!"

"This is bad!" Some of Phantom's mages blurted out.

They all realized that the two Dragon-Slayers still had strength left.

"Levy... Jet... Droy...Gramps... Lucy... Our friends...And Fairy Tail..." Natsu muttered.

Gajeel dropped down and got himself ready to send out another spell. He took his position.

"**Iron Dragon's Roar!**"

The blast of shrapnels flew right towards the pair, much bigger than the last time. This time though, Natsu didn't fire his own and put his hand forward.

Using only his strength, the Fire Dragon-Slayer gripped the spell before it made contact. He pulled his arms apart, effectively breaking the spell off.

"No way! He deflected my blast with his bare hands?!" the Iron Dragon-Slayer argued, not believing what he saw. "This can't be happening! I can't be losing to a pair of fairy scum like them."

Rodin began walking forward past Natsu, glaring right at his enemy. "**We're going to eradicate you for all the pain you caused our friends! You'll regret ever messing with our guild!**"

That single threat made Gajeel lose his cool.

"You're threaten me?! I'll show you pieces of shit who's stronger!"

His energy soon started enveloping around his entire body, making the scales on him glow brighter. With that display, he jumped upward and attempt to demolish Rodin first.

"**Iron Dragon's Head Fist!**"

The punch he delivered soon got countered by Rodin's strike. Only this time, when both collided with each other, one gave out.

Suddenly, Gajeel's scales up his arm started breaking apart. The cracks traveled up his hand and ended on his shoulder.

"_This isn't possible...I'm the strongest, No one can beat me!_" He thought in his mind.

"Let's finish this!" The duo Dragon-Slayers declared.

Rodin's mouth opened, making him take in a large amount of air. His opponent realized what was about to happen, but couldn't move due to his hesitation.

"**Ironstone Dragon's Roar!**"

Releasing his spell, the blast was ten times bigger than an ordinary roar. A storm of iron-covered rock shrapnels hit directly at Gajeel's body.

It propelled upward, creating a powerful explosion that caused the head of the giant to break apart. The pieces fell into the water.

"DO IT NATSU!" was all Rodin yelled out before Natsu propelled himself upward, using his ally as a jump pad.

Gajeel's body still flew up, but the Fire Dragon-Slayer flew past him and dived bombed right at him.

All he could see was his enemy's entire body covered in flame.

"**Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!**"

A flurry of fire-enhanced punches got right into the Iron Dragon-Slayer.

Each impact made Gajeel feel his scales breaking apart with each successful hit.

"Levy! Jet! Droy! Nab! Macao! Gramps! Erza! Lucy! Rodin! This is for everything you did to them and our home!"

The punches didn't stop until both Natsu and Gajeel crashed down back on the ground.

A silent hush soon took place when everything stopped. The structured room everyone was in now stood in pieces. No more ceiling, walls, anything. Just rubble and broken pillars.

Lucy had managed to escape before falling victim to a falling ceiling. Thanks to Happy, she now floated in mid-air, looking over the battlefield.

She prayed that both her friends were safe, waiting for the cloud to disappear.

When it finally did, tears pooled in her eyes.

Gajeel's body was atop a large broken part of a wall. His scales disappeared and blood covered his body. Despite all that punishment, he was still breathing.

"You...damn...assholes..."

On an upper platform above the Iron Dragon-Slayer, both Rodin and Natsu still stood tall. They stared down at him discontent.

"That's payback for Levy and the others," the Stone Dragon-Slayer spat out. His appearance returned to normal from the form he previously had.

"We're even as well, bastard," the Fire Dragon-Slayer added.

"Natsu! Rodin!" Lucy called out, having the feline lower her down a bit to see them.

Before she could say anything, both fell backwards, breathing heavily and closing their eyes. The two couldn't help but smile at their win.

"You see that? I totally won that," the pink-haired mage declared, making the person a few feet from him scoff.

"Please. You see that form I pulled off? Obviously my attack knocked him out cold," he retorted.

All Lucy could do with that was laugh in amusement, giving them both a headshake.

"Geez. Like this guild needed another Natsu," she jested.

"Aye! Think how much money the entire city would need to fix the destruction these two would caused," Happy added.

"Don't compare me to this guy!" Rodin huffed, making them all laugh at his remark. By then, the Stone Dragon-Slayer just added their laugh with them.

Their laughter soon stopped when the clouds above them soon blacked. Following that, the sound of thunder and lightning boomed down.

"What's happening?!" Lucy gawked, shocked at what she was witnessing.

"No idea!" Happy added.

"Don't worry," Natsu assured them, making the pair and Rodin turn to him and notice a smile. "It's the old man, finally giving those bastards with they deserve."

The three of them couldn't tell whether the smile on his face was due to excitement or happiness. At that point, it didn't matter, all they knew was that the force of the fight reached even the heavens. The final battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord would soon come to an end.

* * *

**_Chest Section_**

The battlefield between the two Guild-Masters had split itself. One part had the deadly hollows of darkness. while the other had the soothing arch of light. Between the border of both sides, each Wizard-Saint represented their own side.

After his children finally regained consciousness and left the room. Makarov finally started the battle between himself and Jose.

Both their conflicting energies made the ground itself shake with fear.

Makarov had one finger glowing with bright yellow energy, consistent with **Light Magic**.

Jose's ambition got the better of him, resulting in him sending out a **Darkness Blast** forward. It left the old-man forced to counter with his own blast of light energy.

The two colliding spells shook the foundation around them, reaching out to even the outside. Nature itself soon began to tremble as thunder and lightning boomed around.

Everyone outside felt like an earthquake itself was happening.

With both spells colliding, both Wizard-Saints continued their offensive.

They each used their other hand to bring out their element, curving it in an attempt to hit their opponent.

The collision between both ended with one spell each hitting the other.

Despite the setback, Jose's drive didn't falter.

He extended his right hand, charging up an orb of energy in the palm. After it solidified, Jose moved his hand forward and released the spell.

"**Dead Wave!**"

The size of spell engulfed Makarov himself. It's path didn't stop there. Outside, many saw it breaking right through the chest of the giant.

The shock-wave it released caused large waves in the water.

Jose's smirk at what he did stopped when his opponent pushed away the smoke.

Three magic circles soon met together in a triangular pattern. Moving his hands in the same way, a white ball of energy soon appeared in the middle of his hands.

He released it and sent it towards Jose.

The blast engulfed the younger Guild-Master, but didn't keep him down. He pushed through with an evil grin and went on the offensive.

Makarov mimicked his action.

Both now found themselves in a mid-air battle, colliding with each other. Each impact caused almost a sonic boom, reverberating throughout the entire area.

They each landed on the ground after a couple more impacts.

"Quite impressive power," Makarov admitted, hinting a tone of shame. "It's no farce that you deserve the rank of **Wizard Saint**. If only you're power came with righteous intentions, then maybe you could've been the one to lead the future."

His statement made Jose chuckle.

"Is this meant to be a fight or a lecture?" he added.

"Fortunately. I've mastered a special punishment for those who lose their way. It works especially well for my children," the old mage replied. "You have until the count of three to comply with my instructions, or else."

The next sentence he spoke began the countdown to Jose's final moments as a Guild-Master.

"Kneel before me."

That command made Jose's face shift from amused to irritated.

"You dare?!"

"One..."

"You actually have the gall to order Me to admit defeat and kneel to you?!" Jose asked, chuckling once more. "Go to hell old man!"

"Two..." By the second count, Makarov moved his hands in a special manner. When he did, a bright yellow orb started glowing in between the space.

Jose's reaction to it was him beginning to charge his **Darkness Magic** once more.

"There's no way the master of the strongest guild in Fiore would ever kneel to you?!" He boasted. "Our abilities may be on equal par, but my tenacity and thirst makes me even more powerful!"

The aura around his spell manifested a small group of skulls, each one cackling at the old mage.

"Three." With that last word, he turned his hands around the sphere. Soon enough, the energy began to spike.

"You are the one who should kneel before me! The time has come for you and your children to Die!"

The young Wizard-Saint released the blast of energy he channeled through his arms. The blasts of malevolence aimed right towards Makarov.

"Time is up."

The old Wizard-Saint slammed his hands together, crushing the orb in the process.

Golden light soon illuminated the entire area, piercing the darkness itself. Jose's attacks soon disappeared, leaving him shocked before the light targeted him.

"I invoke...**Fairy Law!**"

Outside of the giant, a magic circle appeared over it. It was twice the size of the Abyss Break. The charging energy radiating from the giant soon released everywhere when the circle closed.

The spell's light spread further, encompassing the entire town of Magnolia.

All Jose's dark specters soon disappeared when the light hit them. All the mages of Fairy Tail could do was wonder why it was happening.

After a few minutes passed, the light disappeared from the world. The shaking stopped and things settled down.

Makarov landed down on the ground, looking over to where his opponent was. The cloud around him soon disappeared, revealing something disturbing.

The once fearless leader of Phantom, now stood white as a ghost. His hair, clothes, even face became pale. What was disturbing wasn't the change in his appearance, but the fact that he had a look of pure terror on his face.

He couldn't make his body stop shaking at all, nor bring down his arms. No thoughts entered Jose's mind other than fear.

"You will never come near Fairy Tail again, understand?" Makarov ordered, glaring angrily at his opponent.

He turned away before continuing to talk.

"With what happened, the Magic Council will surely keep tabs on us now much more closely. Keep yourself within the line and behave. I know I will."

With that last warning, the Guild-Master began walking away.

The danger did not pass though.

In front of Jose, the air began distorting itself, uncloaking a wide-grinned Aria. Only now his body gave view of intense damage and the bandages were off his eyes.

"_Our master has fallen! Truly a sad fate, but the old man has left himself open!_" he thought to himself.

Both hands he had extended soon glowed with a magic circle as they inched closer and closer to Makarov.

Unfortunately, the attack never connected.

Without turning, Makarov stretched his arm and punched the Air Mage. The force behind it broke his jaw and sent flying directly into a wall.

He retracted it back before speaking again.

"This war has ended," the Guild-Master declared. "I have no quarrel with you, but if you attempt to make me angry, I will eradicate this guild without hesitation."

The last action Makarov did was turn his head, now sporting a casual look on his face in the direction of Jose.

"Now run along, and take Jose with you".

With that, he walked away, leaving the quivering Jose to fall down to his knees. Behind him, the remaining members of the former **Element 4** hidden themselves away.

All they had on now was looks of shocks on their faces.

They soon left their hiding spots when the sound of footsteps caught their attention.

Looking back to Jose, they all saw Angela appear in front of her. Most rushed up to her and surrounded Jose.

"Juvia can't believe that we've lost," the water-mage admitted. Though the thought of a certain ice-mage made her forget the feeling, causing her to blush.

"_Oui, _quite the pathetic display, _voire_," Sol added.

"No kidding. Phantom's leaderless, look at him," Totomaru remarked. The three mages looked down to see Jose covering his head, afraid that someone would try and hurt him. "So, what do we do now, **Lady Angela**?"

All their attention now focused on the daughter of their weakened master.

Her attention directed mostly on her father. All she ever knew half the time was what he wanted, how the princess expected to behave. Now that the guild was gone and her father broken, Angela finally gained the freedom she craved.

When she heard the question, the black-haired mage looked up to them.

"Don't call me that, it's just _Angela_," she began, turning away from them. "At this point, Phantom's done. Our headquarters is in pieces, most of our members got beaten, and we're all that's left. I don't know about you all, but I'm done with this place, I quit."

The black-haired woman gave one last look at the man she called Father. All Angela felt at that point was pity, hacking up a spit and hitting him in his head.

Her version of saying good-bye.

She unbuttoned her shirt down to the third button, revealing that her guild-mark was right above the start of her cleavage. With one swipe of her thumb, the mark erased itself.

The **Princess of Phantom** finally broke free from her shackles and walked off.

The rest of the **Element 4** just watched on, shocked by what the woman declared. All except for Juvia.

She wiped the guild-mark on her thigh and proceeded to follow Angela's action, leaving the guild.

On that day, the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom finally finished. Though the cost was high for both sides, the victors felt a sense of joy. Their rivals were gone for good and they survived. To them, nothing was better.

* * *

_**Seven chapters later, the arc ends! Thank you all for following me on the start of this long journey. I especially appreciate all the people who reviewed and added this story to follow. It makes me smile knowing you like my story. Now, before anything, I would like to point out the references I made. "Deadly Hollows" was part of the title for one of the Harry Potter movies. While it may not be believed, Ironstone is actually a mineral. I based Rodin's Dual Dragon Mode on a piece I found while looking online.**_

_**Alright, to wrap this up, I will be delivering a special epilogue for the next chapter. Afterwords, I will be going on a temporary Hiatus to relax and refuel. Most time will be a week. Plus I want to give exposure to others who still haven't read the first 12 chapters. I like to thank my beta's once again and to Pokemonking for giving me inspiration on my spells. Thank you all and stayed tune for Chapter 13: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Epilogue. **_


	13. Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Epilogue

_**Chapter 13**_

**_Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail_**

**_Epilogue_**

* * *

_**Phantom Lord Fortress**_

Where once the sound of war echoed through the giant's body, now only stood the eerie silence of the wind that blew into it. The once proud structure now was nothing more than a statue, depicting what once was.

Near the remains of it's head, three figures still stayed.

The figures were the three Dragon-Slayers, Rodin and Natsu of **Fairy Tail**, and Gajeel of **Phantom Lord**.

Their battle to determine who was superior finally drew to a close, leaving them exhausted and past their limits.

All they could do now to each was just continue the trash-talk.

"Ugh, I can't believe it ended like this," Gajeel muttered, looking up at the clear sky. Where once it held a booming storm, now only had a peaceful portrait painted on it's canvas.

"Hey Gajeel, you hear me?" Natsu asked, making Rodin sit up and turn to his comrade in confusion.

"Nope, not a word," the Iron Dragon-Slayer grumbled, wishing that he was unconscious.

"Just listen jerk! Where did you learn how to do **Dragon Slayer Magic**?"

That question made both Gajeel and his comrade look towards Natsu with confusion. It was the first time either of them actually heard him asking questions.

"Told you, can't hear ya," was the reply the long-haired mage repeated. He turned his head to avoid eye contact.

"I'm curious about that myself," the Stone Dragon-Slayer inquired. "You and Natsu are the only other Dragon-Slayers I've ever met besides my father."

Now it was Natsu's turn to look over to his comrade, giving his own confused look on his face.

Gajeel scoffed before answering.

"**Metallicana**... "

That one word made both of them turn back to Gajeel.

"**The Iron Dragon**."

"No way-" Natsu's shock caused him to fall off of the platform he was on, crashing down right in front of his opponent, who sat up from the floor.

Rodin face-palmed before he stood up, jumping down to the lower level as well.

"I had a feeling that you got taught by a dragon!"

"Why? Were you?" Gajeel inquired, wanting to get some answers.

"Where's Metallicana now?"

"I don't know."

The Fire Dragon-Slayer growled in annoyance, starting to get frustrated over the lack of info the man in front of had.

"Tell me where he is!" Natsu bellowed out.

"I said I don't know!" Gajeel replied.

Both then slammed their foreheads against one another by accident.

The impact caused them both to look away in pain, holding their hands against their heads.

Rodin's face had on an exhausted look when he saw how stupid the two were acting.

"Are you two douchebags done?" the Stone Dragon-Slayer asked, making them glare towards him.

"Man. I feel like I'm losing brain cells just talking to you guys," Gajeel retorted.

"That makes two of us," Rodin spat out, making him walk to the edge and look out to the city.

"He trained me ever since I was a brat," the long-haired mage continued. "Then out of nowhere, he just disappeared. No trace of him at all."

Rodin and Natsu turned their attention to what he said.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer had a theory about something.

"It wouldn't have happened to have been on **July 7th, X777** that he left?" he inquired to Gajeel.

The question made the Iron Dragon-Slayer look over to Rodin, shocked by how he got it right.

"He did? How did you know that?" the long-haired mage blurted out.

"Natsu, did your dragon also disappear on that date too?"

"He did! **Igneel** left right around that same date and time!" the Fire Dragon-Slayer added. "How the hell did you know that?"

Rodin turned his attention to the two of them, crossing his arms across his wounded chest.

"It was something I thought when my grandmother disappeared, **Terrageneis**. I wondered if there were other dragons that also disappeared on that date. I didn't think it had a connection to them all."

The connection made all three of them stare in disbelief.

None of them knew why their separate dragons left them alone on that day. All they knew was that they were out there somewhere.

"I can't believe it. All three dragons disappeared on the seven years ago, year X777, of the seventh day of the seventh month-"

Gajeel's talking got interrupted once more by the Fire Dragon-Slayer.

"Damn man, what's with all the seven's?!

"How the hell should I know?!"

The impact between them once again caused the two to hold their heads to make the pain go away.

"God, you're both morons," The third Dragon-Slayer commented, face-palming himself.

"Hmph! Like I care about Metalicanna anyway," Gajeel denied, crossing his arms in irritation.

"Just get out of here already," Natsu huffed out.

The Stone and Iron Dragon-Slayers both gained an irritated look by his idiotic comment.

"You're on our turf! If anyone should go, it's Both of you!" Gajeel bellowed out, making Natsu stand up and dust himself off.

"Fine, geez. No need to be rude about it," the pink-haired mage argued.

"Just get out before I get pissed!"

Rodin and Natsu took his words to heart and began their walk towards the lower levels. Before they left, the Fire Dragon-Slayer had to stir the pot once more.

"Let me know if you hear anything," he replied.

Gajeel's patience was wearing thin.

"Why in the hell would I tell you anything?!"

"Cuz," the Fire Dragon-Slayer began, turning to him with a grin on his face. "We're fellow Dragon-Slayer's after all."

"Get real! This isn't over between us, next time we fight, you'll be begging for mercy!"

"Geez, what's the attitude? I was thinking of calling it a truce. Though now, I'm not so sure."

Rodin rolled his eyes at the two, walking away and heading downstairs by himself. At that point, he could hear Natsu yelling at him to wait up.

The two made their way out of the giant's body, heading towards their home and friends waiting for both of them.

* * *

_**Fairy Tail**_

_**Former Guild-Hall**_

"Ugh man, can't believe my shirt is in pieces," Rodin groaned in irritation. He and Natsu finally arrived back on dry land after exiting the giant's body.

The duo began their walk back to Fairy Tail.

Though now, the Stone Dragon-Slayer found himself shirtless. He had taken off his leather jacket to assess the damage of his shirt. Though after looking, it was clear that there was no hope for it.

All he could do was tie his jacket around his waist and throw his shirt away.

"Quit complaining!" Natsu grimaced, getting tired of having to hear Rodin's voice. "My vest got shredded, but you don't hear me bitching."

"Screw you. This was my favorite shirt!"

"Wanna say that again?!"

"Screw you!"

Both now had themselves butting heads with one another, glaring directly at each other. Sparks of electricity collided. despite their lack of compassion for one other. The atmosphere around them became more brotherly since their initial meeting almost two days ago.

Their staring contest soon got interrupted when they heard a female voice address them.

"Well, glad to see you two getting along," the woman commented, making them turn to see Erza standing in front of the two.

The Requip-Mage switched out of her armor and back to her normal attire of a white buttoned-blouse and blue skirt.

Though now, they saw that her body, especially her arms and head, had many bandage wrappings around them.

"Who's getting along?!" both blurted out in irritation, making her smile in amusement.

Rodin stopped glaring when he looked past the woman. His attention then focused on the remnants of their guild-hall.

All that remained was a pile of broken down rubble, none of which was reusable.

"Damn, they got us good," the Stone Dragon-Slayer exclaimed. For him, it was only three days ago since he joined Fairy Tail. The building had such a majestic view and atmosphere that it felt like home. Now after seeing it's current state, grief struck him hard.

"Yes. Though in the end, we won," Erza reassured Rodin, walking over and putting her hand on his shoulder. "Phantom Lord will never come after us ever again."

"Yeah, so quit complaining!" the Fire Dragon-Slayer added.

He quickly shut up when Erza's famous glare directed right towards him.

All Rodin could do was turn to look at her, smiling and nodding at what she told him. He started to realize by now that it wasn't the building that made Fairy Tail, his comrades did.

While he was thinking about what she said, a thought came to mind.

"Hey Erza, I wanted to ask. Back on the giant, there was this bright purifying light that just engulfed everything. What was it?" He inquired.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer saw the Requip-mage remove her hand from his shoulder, moving it now to her chin. Her face indicated that she was in the middle of thinking.

Her response came a few seconds later.

"What you witnessed was one of Fairy Tail's three most powerful spells: Fairy Law," She began to explain. "It's power banishes and destroys those who the caster sees as it's enemies. It's why most of us remained unharmed when the Master invoked it."

All Rodin could do was give a surprised look to Erza, turning back over to the giant. He couldn't believe something that powerful didn't destroy everything in it's path.

"Try to dumb it down a little. Flint-head isn't the sharpest tool in the shed," a voice jeered. That comment made the him look to where it came from.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer smiled at who he saw.

His feline partner's had a small stick helping her stand up, but what Rodin noticed was that her stomach had quite a bit of bandages on it.

"Trixie!"

He exclaimed in shock, going to her and kneeling to give her a look over.

She scoffed and waved him off.

"I'm fine already, geez. Don't have a cow," the feline assured him. Though she soon felt guilt when Rodin began to have tears pool around his eyes.

She took a deep breath and moved up onto his knee, hugging his chest to comfort him.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer didn't care about how she replied, only that nothing serious had happened to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he inquired, pushing her back a bit to take another look over.

"I am, really," she repeated, only in a much kinder tone.

"Cana mentioned that your wound was more serious than expected. Are you sure you're up for walking?" Erza chimed in.

The duo looked over to see the Requip-mage and Natsu looking at the two of them.

"I'm fine. Trust me, I've taken much worse than what that Iron Dragon-Slayer did to me," Trixie commented.

Before Rodin could growl or get angry, sounds of cheering echoed out. The small group turned over to find that Makarov had finally returned.

"The old man's back!" Natsu exclaimed, running from where he stood towards the crowd.

"Impatient as always. Come," Erza added, starting her trek there as well.

Before Trixie could jump off her partner's knee, Rodin grabbed her and gently placed her on his shoulders.

She turned to look at him, wanting to yell at him, but bite her tongue.

The two went after the other two and made it towards the crowd.

Rodin and Trixie found themselves passing through the people surrounding the area. The duo stood close to the Guild-Master and watched him look over the damage that Phantom inflicted.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer lowered his partner to the ground and turned back to Makarov.

"It's in ruins. They really did a number on it, didn't they?" the Wizard-Saint remarked.

Footsteps followed after he spoke, making most turn to find Lucy going towards him. She had a look of guilt on her face.

Makarov turned towards her.

"Master... I'm so sorry for all this, it's my fault," the Celestial-spirit mage confessed.

All he could did was sigh out in exhaustion before speaking.

"There's no need for apologizes child. You've endured so much, but don't let it get it to you."

"Yeah, cheer up. Let's see that happy grin on your face," a voice added.

Everyone looked over to find the source. Though only Lucy and Rodin looked more excited about who it was.

Finally awake and out from the hospital, **Team Shadowgear** had finally returned.

Though some of their physical damages still presented themselves. Jet's broken arm along with Droy's wrapped head and broken leg were visible.

"Levy, you're okay!" Lucy exclaimed with joy.

Rodin walked up to them, quickly hugging all three in one swoop.

"I can't believe you guys are awake," the Stone Dragon-Slayer admitted. He let them go when tears began to pool in his eyes, not wanting to cry out.

The team gave a guilty smile before Levy began talking.

"We do owe you more than anyone Rodin," She admitted, reaching into her pocket. The Solid-Script pulled out the stone that his comrade left for him and the others on their pillows.

A blush appeared on Rodin's face, making him avert his eyes before rubbing the back of his head.

Everyone around him began laughing, amused that the Stone Dragon-Slayer could have a soft side.

Levy turned to Lucy, giving her best friend a comforting smile. "We beat Phantom, so there's no need to be sad."

"Sure our guild-hall may be gone," Droy began saying, only to have Jet finish his sentence.

"But we're gonna rebuild and make it ten times better."

Lucy muttered a response, still not feeling so hopeful.

"We're sorry for worrying you Lucy," her best friend remarked.

"No, it was all my fault," the Celestial-Spirit mage argued.

"We heard about your secret, but you need to know, not one person blames you at all."

"They're right Lucy," Rodin added before Lucy could make a response. "We all did this out of our free will, you didn't drag anyone into anything."

A lot of her guild-mates nodded at the Stone Dragon-Slayer's remark. Their look of conviction made Lucy start to tear up.

"Lucy..." Makarov called out, making her turn to him. "Though we may not share know the true feeling of other's happiness and sorrows. We can share them in some aspects, that's what being a guild is all about. One person's feelings joins others and creates a bond between us all. There isn't one thing you should feel guilty about, everyone in this guild cares about you. No matter what threat or force comes, hold your head high. You are a Fairy Tail Mage, be proud of that."

The speech finally broke away the years of pain Lucy felt, all the struggles she endured alone. It rushed out in a river of joyful tears streaming down her face.

Her cries echoed through the town.

Everyone around her smiled at their comrade's joy, some even starting to break out into tears themselves.

She fell down to her knees, making Levy go past Rodin to comfort her.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer took a step forward in hopes of comforting Lucy as well.

Though that one action soon caused a wave of pain he never endured in his life. In his mind, Rodin felt like something cracked himself in half.

All Rodin could do was drop down to his knees, coughing up some blood that fell to the ground. When his body couldn't hold up anymore, the Stone Dragon-Slayer fell face-down and passed out.

The image everyone saw looked like someone stabbed him in the stomach, making him bleed out.

Looks of horror plastered on everyone's face, especially on his feline partner.

She and Makarov rushed over towards their fallen comrade, flipping him over from his stomach. What they saw made their stomachs turn.

The young man's face became pale as a ghost with the only color being the blood that ran down the sides of his mouth.

"Rodin!" They all yelled out in horror.

Not one sound came to him, only a black void that surrounded his body and left him at the mercy of its shadows.

* * *

_**Black Space**_

Darkness, far as the eye can see, with spirals of light spinning around in a cluster. It gave a sense of exhilaration and wonder for any who would see it.

Though only one thing stood out of place, Rodin's body floating in mid-air. The second thing that stood out of place was the fact that his body had the Ironstone scales that he had before.

The Dragon-Slayer slowly felt his eyes open when a rumbling vibrated through the void.

"_Where...am...I...?_" He muttered silently, appearing tired despite just waking up.

Even with him half-conscious, Rodin could still make out what he was witnessing.

From the ground, an entire mountain slowly uprooted, reaching a height that would dwarf major cities. When it stopped, the large structure slowly changed shapes.

When it stopped, the new form was that of his grandmother, Terrageneis.

"Granny..." he mumbled, struggling to reach out to her in desperation.

All she did was turn away and walk off, slowly humming the lullaby her grandson heard as a baby.

Rodin's attempt to break free from whatever got a grip on him proved useless. All that he felt was something pulling him back, drawing him further away.

He called out with all his strength, but to no avail.

* * *

_**Rodin's Apartment**_

**_One Week Later_**

"No!" The Dragon-Slayer roared out, realizing that he was awake and his arm stretched outward. It took him a few seconds to notice that the ceiling he was looking up at was his own.

"I'm..in my room..." he muttered to himself, letting the arm that extended drop to the side.

Rodin's memory was foggy but couldn't remember much past what happened. All he recalled was that after Fairy Tail claimed victory over Phantom, his entire body just shut down on him.

The Dragon-Slayer slowly sat up, wincing in pain before he realized that it really was his apartment.

Rodin turned to the window, finding that the sun illuminated the entire town. He looked down to find that his chest and arms got wrapped up in bandages.

"Hey! You're awake!" A voice exclaimed, making him turn over to the door.

The door flung open, showing Trixie in her **B****attle-Form**, holding a tray of food that she made for him. She put it on top of the drawer before rushing to him, giving him the tightest hug he ever got from the feline.

Rodin didn't feel much pain now, but felt something wet dripping on his shoulder. He realized that she was crying a river of tears.

It was the first time that he ever saw her like that.

"Huh, guess the feline had it right after all," a feminine voice admitted. Rodin's attention turned to see a pink-haired woman now enter his room, only with an elixir bubbling in hand.

The Dragon-Slayer instinctively tried to get towards her, fearing she was an enemy.

All that held him back was Trixie.

"No, it's okay," she assumed him, making her partner look to him with confusion. "She's the one who healed you."

His eyes widen with shock.

"Wait... Healing? What happened to me?"

His question didn't get answered due to Trixie staying silent after she told him.

The pink-haired woman walked over to the bed, passing him the elixir.

"Drink that," she ordered, going back to the tray of food his partner made for him.

Trixie moved away from Rodin, wiping the tears away from her face. A puff of smoke exploded around her, reverting her back to her normal form.

The Dragon-Slayer looked down at what he had in his hand, thanking the gods that his sense of smell was bad.

He took a deep breath and held his nose with his free hand, downing the concoction quickly. The bitter taste made him want to throw up everything, but forced himself to swallow it.

Rodin shuddered in disgust before giving the beaker back to the woman.

"So, who are you?" he inquired, feeling Trixie getting back on his bed and sitting next to him.

"My name is Porlyusica, Fairy Tail's medical adviser," she replied.

"Okay, so why exactly are you here? Plus, how did I even get back home?"

The question made Trixie hug his arm.

"You just fell... So much blood..." was what Rodin heard her mutter through her sobs.

"It seems that due to your consumption of a different element, your Dragon-Slayer Magic was in flux. Not to mention the damage you took from the battles you were in didn't fully heal."

The Dragon-Slayer soon remembered everything that occurred, realizing that he almost died.

"You've been out for almost a week, truthfully, I was beginning to think you died," she replied bluntly.

Rodin raised an eyebrow when he looked at her, confused on whether she was trying to help or depress him.

"Nice bedside manners there," he retorted.

"Oh be silent," the pink-haired woman barked out, making the Dragon-Slayer shake a bit. She huffed out and went to the door.

After opening it, she moved out of the way to allow Makarov to enter the room.

"Master!" Rodin exclaimed with a smile.

The master's appearance changed since the last time the Dragon-Slayer saw him.

His attire consisted of a construction worker's outfit. A brown one-piece uniform that covered his chest and legs. On top of his head was a yellow hard-hat with a green cross on the front.

"How are you feeling my boy?" The old-mage inquired, walking to the right side of his bed.

"Surprisingly better," he replied. "I'm sorry if I scared everyone."

"More than a scare Rodin," Makarov admitted. "You're lucky that whatever you did in battle didn't kill you."

"I know, I'm sorry for worrying everyone. What exactly did I miss while I was out?"

The Guild-Master went on to explain how after he passed out. The Rune-Knights, the Magic Council's army, arrived. They detained Fairy Tail and took them in for questioning. Though due to Rodin's situation, they allowed them to take him home and have Porlyusica care for him.

The explanation made Rodin release a breath of shock, surprised at what he missed. His attention turned back to the pink-haired woman.

She was currently looking at an old photo that was in his room.

The Dragon-Slayer cleared his throat, making her turn to him.

"What?" she exclaimed, annoyed by his interruption.

Though what the healer saw made her calm down.

Rodin bowed to her while sitting in bed, making Makarov chuckle when he noticed the look on her face.

"Thank you so much, I am in your debt," he declared in respect.

She huffed, turning away from him before walking towards the door.

Porlyusica stopped before opening the door.

"Don't overexert yourself. Your body may be fully healed, but it's a risk to try and fight without resting your magic. Take one more day's rest and you should be fine."

She opened the door and left after giving him her advice.

"That woman... Even when it's just his son, she'll always give Adrian better treatment," Makarov blurted out in nostalgia.

The Dragon-Slayer turned to the Master, not paying attention to what he said.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," the Guild-Master assured him, stretching his hand and putting it on his shoulder. "For now, just get some rest, you've more than earned it."

With that last statement, Makarov bid farewell to his child, walking out of the door as well.

He closed it behind him, leaving only Rodin and Trixie alone.

The Dragon-Slayer turned back to his partner, seeing that she passed out from crying. He gently lifted her, placing her sleeping body on the left side of him and laid back down.

Rodin smiled and gave her a small kiss before closing his eyes and laying his head on the pillow.

At that point, all he could do was just take what his healer recommended and rest up.

"Maybe you were right old man," Rodin admitted, talking to himself. Though in his mind, he believed his Father could hear him in the afterlife.

"Fairy Tail wasn't such a bad place after all."

With that last statement, the Dragon-Slayer felt sleep overcome him. Mostly due to the effects of the elixir he drank, making him fall asleep.

The duo softly snored, indicating both were in a deep sleep and enjoying the peace and quiet. For them, nothing else mattered other than enjoying it.

* * *

_**Outside Apartment**_

Near an alley in front of the building, two dark-figures stood in it's protective embrace. Despite being in public, no one seemed to notice them at all.

To them, all they would see is an empty alley piled with garbage bags people tossed into it.

One spoke out to break the silence.

"This the place?" a masculine voice inquired, sounding like someone collapsed their larynx.

The second figure only nodded, keeping their attention on a specific window.

"Kid's been there since the incident with Phantom ended," the second masculine voice stated.

"So what's the plan?"

"You know the rule: No contact and no interference. If he's like his old man, the boss can use him."

The first male scoffed at the comment the second male made.

"I still say we should cut his legs and drag him out," he suggested, cracking his knuckles.

"Do that, and Fairy Tail's gonna be right on our asses. Anonymity is our cover, remember?" The second figure retorted, making the first growl.

"Whatever, then he's your problem."

With that last statement, a magic circle emerged under him, causing a bright glow that revealed both figures. Each one had a cloak that was over their bodies. One had black while the other had grey.

What was unique about both of them was that both wore a special mask that represented an animal.

One in black wore a dragon mask while the one in gray wore a wolf mask.

The gray-cloaked male disappeared, leaving the black-cloaked one alone.

"No shit. He is my son after all," he muttered to himself.

The person disappeared as well, leaving no kind of trace or lead on who they were or wanted.

On that day, nobody knew the future that the Rodin would face, the people he would meet, or the power he'd gain.

* * *

_**And with this, Phantom Lord Arc has officially come to an end. -Throws party- Thank you all so much for staying with me as we past the first hurdle in the series. Since finals are coming up, I must take a week to rest and focus on studying for that. I will not be posting until I get my first filler started up to part two so you will all get to read a double chapter. I like to thank Hiro Mashima's Double Chapter Feature for giving me this idea. **_

**_Once again, I wanna thank those following this story, my beta-readers for helping me make this better for the viewers. You're all wonderful and I look forward to continuing my work. Have a great summer for those already out of school, and we will see you next time in Chapter 14: Bossanova's Wrath - Part I._**


	14. Bossanova's Wrath: Part I

_**Chapter 14**_

_**Bossanova's Wrath - Part I**_

_**Phew, that break was just what I needed, sorry for the delay, but life called and I had to answer. Just a heads-up, these next few chapters will be fillers. It shouldn't be longer than three parts, but soon after, it will go into an Arc I have in mind for this story. Also sorry for the multiple title changes, I had to find one that was perfect and I did.**_

_**Enjoy and let me know what you think.**_

_**Also, I will be posting chapter 15 by tomorrow or Tuesday, it just needs a bit more editing. **_

* * *

_**Magnolia**_

_**Fairy Tail**_

_**Construction Site**_

_**Early Afternoon**_

A week and a half passed since the war between **Phantom Lord** and **Fairy Tail** occurred. The battle between both guilds left a terrible scar that the city endured. As a result, both Guild-Master's soon took up the issues with the **Magic Council**.

Although for one, the consequences were much more severe than the other.

Due to him starting the war, Jose Porla found himself stripped of his title as a **Wizard Saint**. Additionally, the council forced him to disband Phantom for good.

For Makarov Dreyar, who's luck shined on him that day, a miracle happened.

With the investigation into Jose's history and the amount of work needed to fix the town. They decided to hold off any voting until a later time.

Days soon passed and everyone soon found themselves returning to their normal lives. Magnolia itself repaired like nothing had ever happened to it. All except one certain area.

The now-vacant spot of Fairy Tail.

Though after a couple of days, the area soon found itself filled with the sound of construction. It also expanded in terms of land.

Having saved the town, the Mayor awarded Fairy Tail a generous reward for it's services. It would go into the reconstruction of the guild-hall, though with a promise of a return on the investment.

It was a fair trade given what happened.

At the moment, when everyone passed through the empty space. They see the frame work of the building starting to taking shape.

Some of the work showed completion, but it would still take some time before the work could end.

Even without the building, the members of Fairy Tail continued their normal schedules.

Most had to take on more jobs than normal to help pay for the money they received.

Although on that day, things would take an interesting turn for two members.

After receiving another delivery of requests, Mira posted them on the job board. One in particular stood out for most.

When a few members spotted it, mostly males, chaos ensued.

Suddenly, more than half the men of Fairy Tail found themselves fighting over one piece of paper. Leading up to a massive brawl in the middle of the construction area.

All remaining eyes just gave a look of shame at how they were behaving. Three people in particular at the bar.

The trio of Rodin and Trixie, and Mirajane behind the bar.

Since his rough battle with Gajeel, Rodin started to feel like the place was more like home than his apartment. He himself was starting to get the feeling of comradery with everyone, giving him a sense of pride.

That pride also gave way to a new look.

His attire was the same, but with some slight alterations made, especially to his jacket. The once-black leather jacket now bore the color brown. The front was open and under the jacket was a skin-tight white shirt. The Dragon-Slayer took it to a special magic shop, allowing him to change the color of that, and the color of the emblem on his back.

He had his back to the bar, leaning on it with his elbows on top of it.

His partner gained new look as well. Trixie's sleeves got torn during the battle with Gajeel Redfox, so she got rid of them.

Her attire now had a bright brown tube-top with black tight-leggings that reached near her paws.

Though the look they had wasn't one of joy, it was one of annoyance at what they were witnessing.

The bartender behind them only had a amusing smile on her when the fighting had reached it's twenty-minute point.

"Almost half an hour of this," Rodin began to speak, shaking his head.

"And Natsu's not even here. How the hell did it get this bad?" Trixie inquired, taking the mug and drinking from it.

"Normally the fights start over something small, not something like a job," Mira added in honesty. She grabbed a clean dish from the sink and wiped it dry.

The all-out brawl soon came to an end when a large hand slammed on top of them, disrupting the conflict and knocking out the mages.

A look of shock plastered the duo's faces.

"Eeeh!" Both yelled out.

"If you've got time to fight, then go do some more work!" The master bellowed out, making most of them snap back to consciousnesses and rushing to the tools.

The slow sound of construction now turned up.

Makarov's hand shrank to normal size and went towards the paper left on the floor, picking it up.

His attire was that of a construction worker, a one-piece brown outfit with pockets on the chest area. Covering his bald-spot, was a yellow hard-hat with a green cross on the front.

With the piece of paper in hand, he shook his head in disappointment and made his way to the bar. The master jumped up to the stool next to Rodin, moving up to the counter to sit on.

"Give me a double, Mira," he asked.

The white-haired bartender nodded and went to work on fixing Makarov his drink.

"Bad day with the construction Master?" the feline inquired, making him pinch the bridge of his nose.

"More like a nightmare. Try and keep a project under budget, it's impossible," he answered in frustration.

"Here's your order," Mira announced, leaving the mug in front of him.

Without delay, Makarov grabbed the cup and lifted it to his lips. He drank the entire amount in one sitting, making him exhale out afterwords.

"That's the stuff!" he slurred, feeling himself getting energized.

Rodin looked at the paper now on the counter, reaching over to take a look at it. Right when he stared at the paper, a small dribble of blood leaked out from his nose.

His partner and Mira took the paper out of his hand and placed it back on the counter.

What they saw made them both gawk in shock.

All the front side was the painting of a woman, though her posture and attire left quite the impression. The painting depicted her on her knees, arms extended wide. She was wearing a silk nightie with with one of the straps having fallen from her shoulder. Her large endowment looked like it would slip out. It's pattern was that of a floral arrangement that reached from the chest down to the end of the skirt. Her hairstyle was that of a messy sleeper, leaving it in strands that made her look more attractive.

The bartender picked it up and turned it around, reading only the location of the request and a message:

* * *

_**Come find me in three days.**_

* * *

"Wow... The girl is either really desperate or just a slut," the feline commented.

"No wonder the boys all wanted this," Mira remarked, looking up at Rodin and Makarov.

The Guild-Master's face had a bright blush on his cheeks with a little drool coming down his wide-open mouth. Both realized the old-mage fell to her seductive way.

"Wonder why someone would put a bounty on themselves?" the Dragon-Slayer inquired, wiping his nose with a napkin.

"I'm not sure, this is a first in Fairy Tail history," Makarov commented, attempting to grab it.

The feline extended her claws and slashed at the master, making him yell out in pain. He fell down from the counter and hit his head on the stool.

It left him dazed and confused on the floor.

"We'll be taking this one Mira," the feline declared, making her partner confused.

"We will?" He inquired, but soon felt Trixie's demonic aura surround him, causing him to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh my..." was all the bartender could say. She chuckled nervously before taking the accepted stamp from behind the counter. Mira placed it firmly against the paper, leaving it's impression on the front.

With that, Trixie huffed in irritation, grabbing the paper and walking away.

The Dragon-Slayer looked over to the bartender, who shrugged in confusion.

All he could do was get up and follow his partner.

"I get the sense this job will be quite an unusual one, wouldn't you agree, Master?" She inquired.

The woman looked down to where the master had landed. On his face was a shoe print and paw-print from where the partners stepped on him.

All the master did was groan.

* * *

_**Road**_

With both of their gear packed into one travel backpack, the duo left Magnolia and began their two day trip towards the town of **Vista Verde**.

Location posted on the job request.

While on the long walk, both of the mages looked like something was on their minds. Though for Trixie, an aura of rage surrounded her.

It had been there since she left their apartment.

"That bimbo... Thinks that stuff like this is funny, well joke's on her!" She declared. "Not only are we gonna capture her, but I'll make sure that face of her's will get a real make-over."

The ominous tone in her voice followed by her claws poking out made it seem like a small goblin.

She turned over to her partner in hopes of a response, but found him deep in thought at something.

A far-away stare plastered his face.

"Hello?! Flint-brain, you there?!" The feline blurted out, finally breaking his concentration.

"Huh? Sorry, what were we talking about?" he replied, looking down on Trixie's annoyed expression.

"Geez, the least you can do is pretend to listen. What were you thinking about so hard?"

The Dragon-Slayer sighed at her question, stopping in the middle of the road. He brought his hand up, looking at the palm like something was in it.

Since the battle between him and Gajeel, it's felt like the magic inside of him has been in a state of flux. Rodin's sparring match with Natsu ended with him unable to fully control his power. He couldn't control the direction of his Dragon Roar, plus his spells ended up becoming too weak when he released them.

He began to train again, hoping that maybe the power just needed a release, but no luck.

"I'm just trying to figure why this is happening," he admitted, making her calm down. "My magic's out of loop, I try doing anything and it either blows up in my face or didn't appear. Without my magic, no one can even call me a mage."

"Come on. Remember what **Porlyusia** said? It'll just take some time to get your mojo back."

All Rodin could do was sigh and nod, continuing to walk ahead of the feline.

"_Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try and get him to go back to doing jobs,_" she thought to herself.

She had faked the anger to make him follow her on the mission, hoping that it would get him back to fighting shape.

It didn't go as expected.

Wings appeared on her back, allowing her to float upward and follow her partner. Their trip would be a long one, but for the most part, at least they were together.

* * *

_**Thirty-Six Hours Passed**_

_**Campsite**_

Since their departure from their home, both mages found themselves enjoying the calm scenery the more they walked. Though they complained about having to camp instead of stay in a hotel. It brought a sense of nostalgia for them both.

After a night of eating and enjoying food cooked over an open fire. The two decided to retire to their tent, needing their rest for tomorrow's long walk.

The quiet sound of crickets in the darkness and soft rustle of the trees usually made them both drift to bed.

On that night, Rodin couldn't sleep a wink.

All he could do was stare at the ceiling of their tent, eyes wide-open and thoughts running wild.

He threw off the cover of his sleeping bag, revealing the bare-chest that covered it. Though it appeared that he received a new scar across his right side of his chest, compliments of the **Iron Dragon-Slayer**.

The Dragon-Slayer moved his arms through his hair, sighing in exhaustion before deciding to take a walk.

He gently pulled down the zipper, allowing the rush of the wind to enter. With the way clear, Rodin quietly passed through the entrance of the tent, closing it up.

The night air gave view to the many wondrous stars that painted the sky. Each one sparkled like a polished diamond, almost begging for someone to grab them.

Rodin exhaled before going forward, going towards a small lake that wasn't too far from their campsite.

Upon reaching it, all he could see in front of him was the reflections of the stars across it's surface. The light from the full moon only served to give illumination for those that came there.

The Dragon-Slayer's walk lead him to the edge of the water. He grabbed a small rock and simply let it drop.

The ripples came afterwords, going at a fast pace before slowing down. It caused a disruption of the reflective surface, but when it stopped, the water returned to normal.

Looking down, Rodin saw his reflection, but his mind soon turned that into a duplication of his **Ironstone Dragon Mode**.

The being in front of him grinned, almost as if it was mocking him.

Rodin's anger soon began to rise, causing his magic energy to increase without him controlling it.

All he could do was growl and grab another rock, this time, throwing it hard at the reflection. The ripples came and left after a few seconds.

Rodin's reflection was back to normal, along with his magic energy decreasing as he calmed down.

He fell on his butt, looking at the inside of his hands, seeing the face of his grandmother.

"I wish you were here Grandma. You'd probably be able to help me fix this," he muttered to himself.

No reply came.

He closed his hands and sighed.

A sense of drowsiness soon enveloped him, making the Dragon-Slayer yawn. With that action, he decided it was best to sleep, and headed back to his tent.

After that dilemma, Rodin soon fell asleep without worry for the rest of the night. Though the troubles for him would soon become worse come morning.

* * *

_**Next Day**_

_**Early Evening**_

_**Vista Verde**_

Over the horizon, the setting sun painted a masterpiece all across the sky. The mixtures between the blue and orange gave birth to a new design: twilight.

It gave a sense of tranquility around the area.

Down bellow on the ground, two figures walked through the spreading light that shined down to the land. The Dragon-Slayer and his partner had looks of exhaustion after the trip they had.

After packing up their campsite and continuing along, a few obstacles found them quickly. Some of which included wild animals, bandits, and even dark mages.

And because Rodin's magic was still unstable. Most of the encounters ended with their retreat, running away from the fights before they could start.

Neither of them were able to sleep once.

Though all the hardships were worth it when the pair finally saw their destination ahead of them, Vista Verde.

Trixie's face gave tears of joy when she saw civilization, it was the most beautiful thing in her mind.

Both sprinted the rest of the way.

When they stopped before the entrance. The duo found themselves surprised by an unusual structure before them.

Their path into the city passed under many stone arches, standing tall and pristine condition. Almost as if time itself didn't have any affect on them.

It was something the two of them weren't used to, especially since they've been to quite a few towns in their travel's.

Shrugging off the surprise, the pair began their way towards the inside of the city. The sun's light soon slowly disappeared, leaving only the stars in the sky to act as their guide.

After finally passing the last arch, the pair found themselves inside of the city. Though what they saw in front of them gave quite a shock.

The entrance lead to the main town square, which would normally have many people walking around. There was only utter silence and empty streets. The two story-buildings that were in a circle around the area had no sign of lights on.

It was almost like a ghost town, despite the sun only just going down.

The only thing that stood out was a large obelisk that stood at the center of the square.

"Cozy place, isn't it?" the feline stated in sarcasm. She began her walk towards the pillar, leaving Rodin behind.

For the Dragon-Slayer, his instincts began to warn him. Almost like there was a presence lurking around, watching them in hiding. He looked around the area, but couldn't find anything usual.

Knowing it might not work, he attempted to use his **Stone-Sensing**.

Rodin lifted his leg up, slamming it hard into the ground. Nothing came to view. Growling in frustration, he tried it a few more times, unaware of what his partner was doing.

Trixie finally found herself standing in front of the obelisk. Though her instinct wasn't giving her any warnings, she did feel like something was off about the town.

Her attention went back to the pillar.

All she could tell about it was that there was strange markings on all four sides of it. They were unusual, only having different shapes and images on them.

Summoning her wings, the feline flew up to take a better look at them.

When Trixie flew off the ground, something triggered.

The spot where she was soon started glowing dark blue.

Within seconds, four dark-blue energy barriers sprouted upward. The feline saw them surround her and then spread their energy to connect together.

When they did, the square condensed itself and entrapped her in a cube.

Her partner heard the hum of the magic energy, making him look up to see what had happened.

"Trixie!" Rodin yelled out, rushing over in an attempt to help her.

When he got close, a second barrier sprung up right at the spot Rodin was in.

In a matter of seconds, the same thing happened to him.

The Dragon-Slayer attempted to break out, striking it with his fists. Though due to the unique structure of the cube he was in, his attacks didn't have any effect.

In one spot he hit, the barrier loosened it's shape and stretched to avoid breaking. In another, it was too solid, combined with the fact his magic was unstable, most of Rodin's spells couldn't break it.

The feline bore no better results, even with her **Battle Form**. Her attacks couldn't deal any kind of damage to her prison.

Out of nowhere, Trixie found the cube lowering itself down to the ground, landing next to her partner.

Before either could blink, the entire town soon disappeared in an instant.

What replaced them was more of the same cubes that held them, only without their disguise.

"I'm sorry for the deception," a voice apologized, making both turn over to see who was speaking.

Walking down the path Rodin ran down, were two figures with one carrying a torch. When they got closer, the pair made them out to be one male and female.

The man reached around Rodin's height, having dark-skin and dread-lock hair that slicked back. He showed to have facial hair that grew on the sides of his jaw, adding sideburns along with them. Along with that, he had three separate tattoos, two on his cheeks and the third on his chin.

His attire was a skin-tight, allowing him to fight without losing momentum. His black shirt showed to have white markings, running from his chest to shoulders and down towards the stomach. Both his forearms showed to have white wrappings. Lastly, he was walking barefooted without any form of protection on his feet.

Aside from the torch in his hand, he also carried a khakkhara, which had a circle shape at the tip and rings that were inside of it. Three on the left and right side.

They saw that the pointing and middle fingers on his right hand was glowing the same color as the cubes. Indicating that it was his magic that trapped him.

Though for the woman's case, she was completely opposite of the male.

The woman's appearance had light-skin tone, which was way different than her partner's. She wore a red-mask, which had a yellow inverted triangle in the center, and large white marks that covered her eyes.

Her attire gave both of the prisoners a look of shock. It consisted of a skin-tight outfit that left nothing to the imagination. Red covered the majority of her body, with another inverted yellow triangle in the middle of her large breasts. It also connected to a yellow hexagon on her belly, drawing attention to the toned muscles. Yellow also appeared on her arms and legs, giving the appearance of long gloves that reached her elbows. And knee-high boots.

"Who are you?!" Rodin yelled out, tightening his fists in anger.

The male moved his fingers in a diagonal motion, causing both cubes to disappear.

Their captures kept their defensive stances up, not trusting the two.

"Oh just relax,' the woman blurted out. "Geez, the two of you look like someone's trying to cut your heads off and suck your brains."

Rodin's eyes widen when he heard her spoke, moving them down to look at his partner.

Both had similar personalities, which meant trouble for him.

"We will when you tell us what the hell's going on, damn slut!" The feline retorted.

"Who's a slut?!" The woman barked, posing like she was a swimsuit model. "Unlike you, we Humans know how to accessorize."

That remark made the feline transform back into her other form, only now, she had a demonic aura around her.

The woman cracked her knuckles, getting ready to fight.

Before either could get the chance, two more cubes entrapped them. Both females turned their attention to the staff-wielder, smacking their prison to break out.

The male shook his head in annoyance by this.

"Forgive my partner," he apologized to Rodin. "She's not known for her patience."

Rodin got a sense of deja-vu when he heard him say that. He gave a quick look to them both, seeing the pair hitting the cubes and shouting that he let them go.

"Sure, no problem..." he replied with a nervous chuckle. "So, were you the ones who sent this request?"

The Dragon-Slayer reached into his jacket pocket to pull out the paper.

The man nodded in response.

"Yes we were. You may call me **Rhys Lore**, the hot-tempered woman is my wife, **Becca Lore**."

Rhys looked back to see the females finally calming down, releasing his magic on them.

A big mistake on his part.

No sooner did he do that, a hand slapped him right across the face, knocking him to the ground.

The impact echoed throughout the silent forest.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you," she acknowledged, rubbing the palm of her hand.

Both Rodin and Trixie looked at each other with utter shock at what they were witnessing. In some crazy ironic sense, the pair met people exactly like them.

"Again, I apologize for the deception, but it was necessary," her husband repeated. He got up from the floor with the help of his staff and rubbed his cheek.

Rodin shook his head before turning back to the married couple.

"Well, you got us here. What is it that you need help with?" he inquired.

After feeling the pain subside, Rhys channeled his magic and created four smaller cubes.

"Please, sit down," he insisted, taking his own seat with Becca doing the same.

Trixie gave a suspicious look to Rodin, waiting to see what he would do. Without hesitation, the Dragon-Slayer sat down.

The feline glared at the two, slowly sitting down herself and transforming back to her normal form.

Rhys cleared his throat before speaking.

"We had heard of the war between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail. It surprised us that your guild survived the encounter. And after that, we knew that your mages would be strong enough to help us with the problem we face."

"Which is what exactly?" The Dragon-Slayer asked.

"We need help rescuing my brother..." Becca admitted, trying to hide the worry in her tone.

"Maybe you should start from the beginning," Trixie added, starting to get a sense that this was something serious.

The black-haired woman took a deep breath before starting her story, recalling how this mess first started.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Three Days Ago**_

_"Try this on for size!" Becca yelled out from one of the trees._

_The couple had found a dense spot within the forest, away from innocent people and animals that might get harmed. They figured while resting, a small sparring session between the two couldn't hurt._

_Her husband found himself right in the open while his wife, using her acrobatic skills, took shelter in the trees._

_It allowed her for more cover and hiding spots. She had to keep her reputation as **Fiore's Best Thief** alive._

_Taking in a deep breath, she released her **Songbird Magic**. The magic energy inside her body reinforced her vocal cords. It allowed her to release it into a shriek of sorts that could deal physical damage._

_The man summoned up his **Barrier Magic**, allowing him to create his dark-blue cube that gave a good defense._

_Though it wasn't his only trick._

_When the shriek hit the cube, a powerful shock-wave pushed out into the forest. Causing all the animals to flee in terror._

_Both were evenly matched._

_When Becca's spell stopped, Rhys went on the offensive._

_Focusing the magic around where he thought she was, the Barrier-mage summoned up spears, crafted like his cube. The difference was they were smaller and longer, like an actual spear._

_Each one he crafted attempted to hit the trees, trying to lure his wife out._

_Though he couldn't see, his spell almost hit her a few times._

_Becca dodged in what little room she could maneuver, narrowly escaping each one that pierced her cover. She knew her husband's sense of hearing was better and he'd trap her soon enough._

_She smiled deviously, getting an idea on how to turn it around._

_Focusing her magic through the palm of her hand, Becca touched one of the trees. After the connection, many strings suddenly shot out from the surrounding trees._

_Each of them latching onto the cube._

_Her String-Magic was one of the reasons she proclaimed to be the best thief around. Creating Eternano lines inside her body allow her to pass it through hollow objects._

_With one tug from them all, the construct lifted into mid-air, almost like a spider snaring it's prey. It stopped in what looked like a make-shift spider-web._

_The Barrier-mage looked around, trying to find out where exactly the spinner of this web was._

_"Gotcha."_

_He found a hand covering his eyes, realizing that his wife managed to get through his barrier. Rhys sighed in defeat and dropped his staff._

_The cube found itself lowering down to the ground, leading to the husband dropping it down._

_Becca turned him around, landing a deep kiss right on his mouth._

_At first he got caught by surprise, but soon found himself submitting. A few seconds passed and she finally released him from the vice-grip._

_It left him breathless._

_"Geez, you always fall for that trick!" she mocked, moving down to pick up his staff._

_"Technically, you got caught in my trap," he remarked, making her raise an eyebrow in confusion. "True, you broke in, but since my barrier didn't break, you still got trapped."_

_She scoffed at his logic and threw the staff down, walking away from him in a huff._

_Rhys chuckled before grabbing his staff._

_"You always seem to hold back with her," a voice remarked._

_The Barrier-mage turned around to see his brother-in-law, **Doji Rial**._

_Unlike his sister, Doji's skin was a bit more tanned due to spending more time outside in the light. Despite only being seventeen, his body showed scars located all up his arms and one located just above his left eyebrow. It traveled up towards his head, ending right on the top his head, though no one noticed due to his spiky black hair covering it. _

_His attire consisted of a brown-ragged cloak that had some torn holes around it, some fairly recent. It covered his mouth, but allowed him to move without worry. Under it, was a muscle shirt with no sleeves and loose-fitting pants with what looked like heavy boots on his feet._

_"Back already?" Rhys inquired, looking up to see that the sun wasn't at the highest peak. "I thought Becca said to train Until high noon?"_

_"Like hell! I'm tired of getting the simple training stuff," he retorted. "I've been a mage since we were kids, I'm ready for the big times."_

_"You know that she'll never go for it, besides, you have to properly control your **Blood-Make**. If you don't do it correctly, it can end badly."_

_"Please, I know my limits."_

_Rhys face-palmed at the young man's ignorance. Deciding it best to simply ignore him and head back towards their campsite. _

_Doji was about to yell something when the sound of screaming caught both their attention._

_It was Becca._

_Both rushed now towards where the sound came from. Breaking through the tall bushes, they found themselves in a small open area, the place all three set-up camp._

_The view in front of them made their blood boil. _

_Standing on top of their now ruined tent was a man wearing a painted skill mask that covered his entire head and mouth. _

_His attire consisted of a black-bulky vest with many pouches and no sleeves from the black shirt underneath. On both hands were black fingerless gloves. _

_The bottom part of his body had gray cargo shorts with black combat boots located on his feet. _

_In his left hand, he held the hair of Becca, dangling her conscious body only a few inches off the ground. _

_"Huh, well lookie here. Info was right after all," he acknowledged in a scratchy deep voice. _

_"You bastard!" Doji roared out._

_The Molding-mage cut a small part of his arm, causing his blood to spurt out, but didn't fall to the ground. Using his magic energy, the young man solidified it into a long crescent blade that had the sharp edged on the opposite side._

_"**Blood-Make: Crescent Edge!**"_

_He ran at the man in blind fury, ignoring the calls of Rhys and swing his arm to cut his enemy's head._

_"**Boost.**"_

_The bandit's right arm suddenly gained three times the normal muscle he had before. He lifted up his arm to block the blade, gripping it and stopping the Molding-mage attack. _

_"You got spunk, try not to bore me," he demanded before dropping Becca. Right when she fell, the bandit used his now free hand, increasing the muscle on that arm now and threw a punch right to his new opponent._

_The impact echoed through that area. _

_When it connected, the force was strong enough to send him flying right through a three, breaking it down. _

_Rhys attempted to subdue the man by throwing up a prison, but in seconds, the man disappeared into the forest using High Speed._

_The Barrier-mage quickly rushed over to check on his wife, seeing some blood on the side of her cheek. He took a deep breath and placed his hand right above her chest, summoning up his **Healing Magic**. _

_He moved it gently up and down her body in hopes of healing all the injuries._

_Before Rhys could finish, something jumped up to the air. It cast a shadow over them before the figure dropped down, crashing down to where the couple were._

_The healer summoned up a barrier to block the impact and keep the dust from surrounding them._

_All he could see was the cloud surrounding the area. _

_After a few seconds, it started to disperse, revealing the attacker and Doji._

_The sight made Rhys want to vomit._

_His brother-in-law had his entire cloak stained with blood from his magic. The attacker's foot was right on his back, only now it was three times the normal size. _

_"Ugh, another weakling," the bandit groaned, turning his attention to the married couple._

_"Hey you, can you hear me?"_

_Rhys only glared in anger._

_"I got told about you three, and I gotta admit, you suck. Though I'm not such a bad guy, so I'll cut you a deal: I heard about them fairies from Magnolia, powerhouses by what some say. Get me someone from there to fight me in a few days, or else, I break His neck."_

_The bandit grabbed the unconscious Doji, easily lifting him onto his shoulders. _

_"Oh, last thing. You can find me on the mountains close-by. The base I'm at will be in sight, ask for **Bossanova**. Till then."_

_Before Rhys could deny his request, the bandit disappeared thanks to his magic._

_The Barrier-mage was at a loss for words._

_All he could do was look down to his beloved, feeling the tears of guilt pool in his eyes. His soft sobbing echoed through the now silent forest that day._

* * *

_**Present**_

Rodin could only look on in shock by what he heard, seeing the painful expressions shown on their faces. He felt a sense of familiarity, remembering how Lucy felt when Phantom attempted to kidnap her.

"That's why we requested Fairy Tail. You're our only hope at rescuing my brother," Becca pleaded. She had taken off the mask, revealing her bright light-brown eyes, only now filled with tears that went down her face.

"I am sure someone of your capability can more than handle someone like Bossanova," Rhys added.

Trixie felt a sense of despair after hearing that story.

Before she could say anything, her partner slammed his hand against his knee.

"Don't worry," he began. "I'll teach that bastard some respect and get your brother back."

His tone gave a confident reassurance to them, making them smile and thank him.

Though his partner didn't feel the same way.

"Rodin, may I speak with you, in private?" she inquired.

The Dragon-Slayer nodded and followed her, getting a good distance from their clients. She stopped and turned around to speak to him.

"Look, I'm all for helping these people, but did you forget something? You have No magic right now," she reminded.

"I know..." was all he could reply.

"The minute you try and fight this guy, it's over. The best bet right now is to go back and-"

"And what?!" Rodin blurted out, making the feline look in shock. It was the first time he ever raised his voice to her.

"You and I both know there's nobody else capable of handing this. Natsu and Erza are still off on that damn theater job and it's not like there's any other S-class mages around."

"We could still ask the master!"

"He's got enough on his place thanks to Phantom, and even if he could, Rhys does not have the time!"

Trixie glared with irritation, wishing that for once, Rodin wouldn't be so damn stubborn. Before she could remark, an idea came to mind.

"Wait..."

"You got something?"

"Maybe... It's hell more dangerous, but if we can make it work..."

Before he could reply, the feline summoned her wings and flew back towards their clients.

All Rodin could do at that point was follow back, unaware of what the plan would entitle. Though knowing Trixie, he knew that it was crazy enough to work one way or the other.

* * *

**_Poor Rhys, hope that crazy cat knows what she's doing. Anyway, it is now time for my special reference guide: For those who were confused by Rhys and Becca's appearance, google the images of Manifold and Spider-Woman from Marvel. In addition, Bossanova is also a reference to Crossbones, another marvel character. Now some may be wondering about the magics: the Barrier-Magic and how Rhys uses it is similar to the series, Kekkaishi. That and String-Magic aren't my original creations, that credit goes to the makers of them on Fairy Tail Fanon Wiki. Blood-Make is also a FTF creation, though it is much more dangerous than let on. Finally, Songbird Magic, my own creation on FTF. It's sort of like a mix between sonic blast and shriek, only it can work in different ways if someone puts their mind to it._**

_**Some extra news: I'm afraid both my beta's have quit, but I am not flying solo. I have my good friends helping me with the edits and changes to make this story pop. Thanks again people for reading, I hope you enjoyed part one cuz the next chapter comes quickly. I will see you guys next time on Chapter 15: Bossanova's Wrath - Part II.**_


	15. Bossanova's Wrath: Part II

_**Chapter 15**_

_**Bossanova's Wrath - Part II**_

* * *

_**Mountains**_

_**Night**_

Deep within the mountains, hidden in a chasm, stood an ancient make-shift Colosseum. The structure was a large circle building built right into the mountain side. One half showed itself while the other had rock covering it.

In the past, many could believe that it was a structure of magnificence, a wonder of the world that almost no one saw. Though due to the ravages of time, it now was nothing but rotten ruins. It looked as if it could break apart just by tapping it.

Additionally, bandits and thieves found and called that place home.

All anyone could hear in the silence was the echoes of crazy laughter and howls. Compliments of bandits that lived there. All under the leadership of **Bossanova**.

On that particular night, it was a spectacle known as **Murder-Rally**. An event that made sane-people throw up and where the dark belly of the underworld poked out from the shadows.

The worst of the worst loved it.

People passing through at night never came out sane, some even thought it to be demonic.

* * *

**_Colosseum_**

**_Inside_**

Sitting on the stone seats were individuals society deemed abominations: bandits, slavers, dark mages. Anyone who had a dealing in the corrupt found themselves there that night.

Their entertainment wasn't for the masses.

All came to view the fights that many loved, bloody and extreme with only one victor walking away.

And when it was Murder-Rally, only one opponent fought against the swarm of enemies, Bossanova.

Their attention focused on the fight that was currently going on, looking in anticipation at who the victor would be.

Many saw that most of his adversaries had already fell, most unconscious in pools of their own blood.

One remained and was helplessly dangling in the air by his neck, courtesy of the bandit-leader. The look of fear on the poor man made many of the audience jeer.

All yelled out for his death, making Bossanova smile in joy, getting ready to end the last man standing.

It came without warning, leaving the now dead opponent dangling in his hand.

Afterwords, the bandit simply tossed him like a rag doll, sending him right into the wall. Rubble buried him within seconds, leaving him in a cheap version of a coffin.

"The winner is Bossanova!" an announcer declared from the Lacrima speakers placed all over the area.

The area soon filled with excited cheers and evil laughs, making the winner thrust his arm upwards in victory. His bulging muscles soon shrunk down, reducing his body into a skinny version of himself.

"Is there no one that can face me?!" He bellowed, making a lot of them cheer.

To them, they wanted more blood and carnage.

And their wish for more came to pass.

"I will!" A voice declared, making many look over to where the entrance to the Colosseum was at.

A hush followed when sounds of painful yells came from there.

All anyone could hear throughout the area was dragging noises. Which soon turned louder when a figure soon found it's way inside.

The light from the moon shined down, showing the person to be **Rodin Clark**, who had two unconscious guards in-hand.

Stopping a good couple of feet from Bossanova, Rodin swung both of the guards flying. Each one slammed into the audience, making some laugh hysterically.

Bossanova simply chuckled at his display.

"What an entrance! It looks like this nobody is looking to die early folks!" The announcer declared, making many of the audience laugh mockingly.

"Who're you whelp?" he inquired, cracking his knuckles.

The contestent simply cracked his neck before answering.

"Rodin Clark, **Stone Dragon-Slayer of Fairy Tail**."

He pulled up his jacket arm to show his guild-mark.

The excitement around the arena soon turned sour.

Many of the audience members started brooding, some getting up to pull out their hidden weapons.

The bandit slammed down his foot.

In that instance, his magical aura erupted, making them all look on in fear of what the man was capable of. And like scared dogs, they sat back down and lowered their heads in shame.

No one dared cross him.

"Seems my meddling paid off, for once," he admitted, cracking his neck before continuing. "Guess those two worthless mages did something right for once."

"You have me. Let go of their brother, now!" Rodin barked out.

"Not so fast... You don't make the rules, I do. Want him back? Then give me some fun!"

The audience soon found themselves revived with cheering, wanting more action.

Right after he said that, Bossanova disappeared quickly using **High-Speed**. Before Rodin could even blink, his opponent slammed his now-muscular arm on the left side of his head.

The attack made him tumble hard across the ground.

Before he could hit the wall, the Dragon-Slayer managed to get back on his feet. He tried to skid to a stop, but still slammed into the wall.

Rodin grunted and gritted his teeth when the impact hit. He spat out a bit of blood, looking back to his enemy with anger.

Bossanova cracked his neck and grinned evilly, awaiting for his new opponent to get ready.

Both roared out and charged at one another, beginning the fight many waited in anticipation.

The entire audience began grunting rhythmically, slamming their feet onto the ground in sync.

Primal excitement oozed into everyone's hearts, wanting the carnage to go even further.

All except for one, who hid himself in the shadows, **Rhys Lore**.

He managed to enter into the audience undetected, making himself a small little nest to keep his focus on his comrade.

"I still cannot believe we're going with that cat's plan," he uttered in irritation. He knew that the idea they came up with was sound, but had a bigger risk than they wanted to believe.

He started remembering how they got to that point in only half an hour, thinking back to after he and the others heard the proposal.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_"EEEHHH?!" was all the three humans could say after hearing Trixie's plan._

_After the private talk between both the feline and Rodin, they went back to the where the couple were at. After sitting down, Trixie explained everything that she thought up of._

_None of them believed what their ears had heard. _

_"It's genius, I know," the feline remarked, acting cocky with her plan._

_"You're actually suggesting that you and me break him out while your partner keeps Bossanova busy?!" Becca gawked. She was all for sneaky tactics, but for her, it was more risky than just a normal heist. _

_"Exactly," the feline replied. "Rodin's a Dragon-Slayer, his abilities are powerful enough to have gone toe-to-toe with Phantom. That's why your husband is also gonna go with him, just in case things get too rough-"_

_"No way!" the black-haired mage interjected. Before she could continue, interrupted by Rhys placing his hand on her shoulder._

_"How long would you need?" he inquired, making her look at him with shock. While not found of the idea, her husband knew that it was better than losing his Brother-In-Law to lowlifes like Bossanova. _

_She couldn't believe that her partner would actually consider something that reckless. Becca couldn't tell whether to be proud for his open-mindedness or pissed. _

_"Truthfully, most I could last would be an hour," Rodin admitted, making them both look to him with confusion. He admitted the truth about his current situation and how the magic energy inside of him was unpredictable. _

_The news gave them a look of fear._

_"Even if he's without magic. this flint-for-brains is one of the most enduring mages ever," Trixie assured them. __While scared out of her mind, the feline knew that her partner could handle the punishment. _

_"I will not let you down," Rodin promised, making them turn to each other. In their hearts, they knew that it was a gamble. Though thanks to their allies confident words, the married couple gave the chance._

_They nodded at the proposal. _

_With everyone now on board, Trixie began to explain each step of her plan, trying her best to speed through in hopes of making their deadline. All they could do at that point was just hope that nothing would go wrong. _

* * *

_**Present**_

Rhy's train of thought broke when he heard the roaring cheers, looking back down to the battlefield.

Bossanova found himself smiling under the mask on his face.

When he attempted to deliver a deadly punch to the Dragon-Slayer. Rodin had managed to evade before slamming his own fist into the bandit's jaw.

It hurt.

For the first time in a long while, the mage felt the pleasure of pain.

His immersion into the sense began to grow the more Rodin landed hard body shots. The last one he sent out made Bossanova skid backwards into the wall, sort of a payback on Rodin's part.

The Dragon-Slayer cracked his fists and looked into the cloud of dust, silently hoping that it was enough to knock him down.

No such luck

All that anyone heard was the sounds of a growing laughter, starting small before becoming maniacal.

When it stopped, people saw something rush right through the cloud.

Rodin couldn't see what went through due to something grabbing his face at the same time. He felt himself lifted off the ground before feeling the ground collide with his back, causing a great deal of pain.

Some cheered when they saw the bandit leader.

Bossanova's body found itself extremely muscular thanks to his **Muscle-Magic**.

Every part of his body had muscle, from the chest down to the feet, all of it now had bigger muscles than ever before. It even gave him new height, making him almost seven feet tall, twice that of the Dragon-Slayer.

He gripped tightly on the Dragon-Slayer's face with his enlarged hand, throwing him high in the air.

All anyone saw was the spinning form of the Fairy Mage twisting in the air.

Rodin's senses became disoriented with each spin twist his body did. Nothing made any sense from his visual perception.

In mid-air, he couldn't tell what was up or down or anything, his mind was shot from the throw. For everyone who saw, it was like a child tossed its rag doll and waited it to drop.

Though for the bandit-boss, he didn't want to wait for the drop.

Instead, he wanted that part for himself.

Pushing his legs against the ground, Bossanova jumped upward towards his victim with incredible strength.

Grabbing Rodin's leg, he started spinning him around, laughing like a crazed psycho before swinging downward. He let go and saw his toy crash.

The impact of the Dragon-Slayer to the ground made everyone roared in cheers, even more so when they saw the dust settle. Rodin found himself in a small crater, laying on his back with blood coming from the sides of his mouth.

He hadn't felt pain like that since the encounter with Jose.

Rhys felt a ping of guilt with what he was witnessing.

"I really hope the ladies have better luck than Rodin," he muttered, wincing at the battle that continued on.

Meanwhile, within the structure of the Colosseum. The second team found themselves starting their part of the plan.

* * *

_**Bottom Levels**_

All throughout the hallways of the structure, pure darkness embodied the area. Almost like it was the dominating force that ruled over it.

Though despite it's void, patches of light from the torches on the walls illuminated the paths.

From one of the paths, the sounds of footsteps echoed through. A torch showed to move down the hall, shining its glow upon the person who carried it.

The figures showed to be Trixie and Becca, both of whom had on disguises that they acquired from two of the local guards.

"Ugh man. Whoever said that men's clothes were easy to wear didn't know crap," the feline complained. She needed to transform into her Battle-Form to wear the outfit, making her feel uncomfortable.

"Deal with it," Becca retorted, making her comrade glare. "They're only until we find my brother, so just suck it up."

Trixie huffed in irritation, turning her head to ignore the woman.

In her mind, she knew that her comrade was just on edge, especially with how risky this was. All she could do was continue on in silence.

They reached a fork in the halls, making them look at both and wonder which path to take.

"Which way do we go?" Trixie wondered, wishing Rodin had come with them.

"No idea, there's gotta be someway to tell where they're keeping the prisoners," Becca added.

Trixie walked to one of the paths, stepping into something. She yelped out disgust, but looked down to see what it was.

A puddle of red liquid.

She knew what it was and looked forward, realizing where they had to go.

The feline turned her head to look at Becca, noticing that she was starting to shake slightly in fear of it.

"We...should..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the woman felt something on her shoulder, making her look up.

She saw Trixie giving her a look of hope.

"I'm sure he's fine, we just got to find him."

All the woman could do at that point was release a shaky breath, nodding in response to what the feline told her.

Both began walking down the path, feeling it suddenly getting colder and colder the further they continued.

"Let me ask you something," Becca began, making the feline stop to turn towards her. "Say we do find my brother, then what? If the plan is for Rodin to keep Bossanova busy, he'd have to stay behind... Are you okay with doing that?"

The feline stopped in her tracks.

Trixie took a deep breath and turning her head to view the woman. What Becca saw wasn't a face of concern, but that of confidence.

"I know it may seem like he and I are complete opposites," she began to speak. "Despite that, one thing has always been true between us, we never doubt the other. It's how the two of us always lived since we found each other. I know his power is gone right now, and there's a chance he'll fail, but I won't give up on him."

All the woman could do was stare in shock at what the feline told her.

"Besides, he needs this kick in the ass more than anything. Otherwise, he'll never use his magic again."

The comment made Becca raise an eyebrow, confused by what exactly she meant.

Though the answer to it would have to wait.

Both of them stopped walking, hearing the sounds of yelling echo through the halls.

It was a blood-curdling cry of pain, which made them wince at the sound.

The echo came from a door on their left, which had a magic circle on it.

They knew that must've been where Doji was at.

Becca handed the torch to Trixie, then walked towards the door to give it a look over. She whistled in awe of the caster's impressive work.

"What a circle. Anything I try and do to the door triggers it and destroys the entire section of the building," she declared.

Trixie's eyes widen with shock, making her go closer and stand next to the woman.

"Can you take it off?" The feline inquired, making the black-haired mage scoff.

"Please, they don't call me the **B****est Thief in Fiore** for nothing, I just need a second."

With that statement, Becca began to make one of her hands glow, slowly moving it over the circle. The energy suddenly caused the door to glow a bright red, but soon calmed down the more the black-haired mage kept her hand over it.

Trixie wanted to tell her to hurry, but heard footsteps coming towards them.

"Shit! We got company!"

"I need more time, stall them!"

The feline looked to where the sounds were coming from, quickly stepping to the corner. She gently looked around, seeing two of the bandits coming towards her.

Pulling back, Trixie straightened herself out and casually walked around the corner.

Becca's attention stayed on the circle, even after she started hearing the sounds of grunting. It followed with blows that echoed and two bodies landing on the ground with a thud.

After a few seconds passed, the sound of dragging echoed now. From around the corner, Trixie returned, only with two new friends in hand.

She set them against the wall sitting down, spitting out some blood from one of them landing an attack on her.

"God, these bastards are tough," Trixie admitted, feeling like one of her teeth broke off in the conflict.

"What'd you expect?" Becca commented, making the feline roll her eyes at the retort she received.

After a few more seconds of glowing, the magic circle finally disappeared from the door, making Becca sigh with relief.

Though not without consequence.

She felt light-headed and almost fell to the ground. Though thanks to her comrades quick thinking, the feline caught her and gently placed her against the wall.

Becca felt like her entire body had done ten laps without resting.

It was a surprise that the trap was extremely difficult to disarm.

"You okay?" the feline inquired, leaning her against the wall and looking over her.

"Yeah, though that took more out of me than I thought," she admitted.

Before Becca could get up, she felt two hands push her back down, looking to Trixie with annoyance on her face.

"Don't give me that look! You're tired and can't do anything until you rest a bit. I'll find your brother."

The woman wanted to protest, even say a few inappropriate things, but knew there wasn't time. She reluctantly reached into her outfit from her neck, reaching down towards her cleavage.

Trixie was about to scold the woman, but saw her pull out a folded portrait, passing it to her.

Despite the sweat, the feline grabbed it and pulled it apart, seeing the painting of what she guessed was her little brother.

Nodding in assurance, the feline moved back towards the door, punching it open.

When it fell, the muffled screams now became clearer, making Trixie wince once again in pain.

Though she couldn't let it get to her.

Taking a deep breath, she began the trek into the room, finding the environment to be much more horrid than she imagined.

The atmosphere of the room was like a realm of nightmares. Darkness and terror lurked all around, invading anyone that walked in.

On both sides of her were rows of prison cells, each one with a different captive of the bandits. Though their appearance didn't merit any good signs.

Almost all had ragged clothing on, old scarring done from the torture done by the bandits. Some even seemed dazed, as if they didn't interact with anything.

All Trixie could do was look in horror, wondering what kind of monster would do such a thing.

The answer to her question came the sounds of footsteps began to make their way towards her.

Realizing she was a sitting duck, the feline shrunk down and flew up to one of the chandeliers.

Trixie found herself holding her arms and legs around the chain, trying not to breath so much and cause it to move.

The footsteps soon got louder, followed by the sound of something dragging. From where the path continued, a hulking figure dressed in a black cloak came in, stopping at one of the cages.

In his hand, the figure had a prisoner dragging on the side, bleeding from fresh wounds on his arms.

The figure opened the cage door and tossed the person in, then went back to where he came in from.

After a few seconds of waiting, Trixie jumped down and exhaled a breath of relief.

"A cat?" a male voice inquired, making her jump up in fear and turn to the cage where the prisoner was just placed in.

The man dragged his body towards the door of his cell, holding onto the bars for support. Light from the torches illuminated his face, revealing it to have bruises and deep cuts.

Despite the change in appearance, Trixie recognized the man's face from the portrait she had just received.

"Doji?" the feline blurted out, making the man jolt back and yell out in shock.

"A talking cat?! What the hell?!" He yelled out, covering his mouth before he could continue.

The two looked back to where the figure had left, waiting to see if any sounds indicated that it heard them.

Nothing came.

"A real talking cat, what the hell are you?"

"Call me Trixie," the feline began, passing the portrait to Doji. "We don't have much time, all you need to know is that I'm here with your sister and brother-in-law."

Raising his eyebrow in confusion, the man looked down to the slip of parchment in his hand. When he opened it, a look of relief came.

Taking that as confirmation, Trixie summoned her wings and went to the small hole of the prison bars. Extending one of her claws, she started to reach into it, attempting to unlock it.

After finessing the lock, the gears released and unlocked his cell door.

Though trouble found them quicker than expected.

Heavy breathing echoed, making Trixie turn her head and look to find the being standing there.

The cloak was now off and it revealed the being to be a man, but with disturbing features.

His appearance was like something out of a nightmare with a bunny mask covering his face. The top of his head was bald and there were scars that ran down his neck.

The attire he wore consisted of a rubber apron, which had patches of blood splattered all over it. Underneath the apron, he had no shirt on, but wore long torn pants and heavy boots on his bottom half.

All Trixie could do at that point was look on in fear, hoping that her partner was holding out better than she was.

Little did she know, the Dragon-Slayer was in his own situation.

* * *

**_Outside_**

**_Arena_**

"Why are you holding back?" Bossanova inquired, looking at Rodin, whom he had around the neck.

The area became scarred with much debris that fell from walls or uprooted by craters. Much of the audience were screaming for more, wanting the battle to continue.

It all fell on deaf ears.

"Who..said I'm holding...back..?" The Dragon-Slayer choked out, feeling the grip from the bandit tighten.

He had taken much more damage than expected, feeling his body starting to go numb in some places.

Bossanova didn't look happy with his response, which showed when he slammed Rodin once more into the ground.

The force was enough to break apart the floor itself.

"Don't play with me boy, we both know you're not using your magic," he added.

After that statement, the bandit lifted his foe and sent him crashing right into another wall.

Only before he could fall, Bossanova used High-Speed once more to slam his fist right into Rodin's gut.

The Dragon-Slayer coughed out in pain, feeling the wind knock out of him along with blood.

"You may be stronger than iron, but there's more to it than just hard training. I know you have magic, now release it!"

He pulled back his fist, making Rodin drop down to the floor, landing down on his butt.

Suddenly, a small chuckle escaped his lips, slowly turning into full-fledged laughter.

The audience booed at him with hatred, but stopped when the bandit released his aura.

Silence enveloped everyone once more.

"Think this is funny?!" Bossanova inquired, hinting a tone of fury that he was holding.

"Yeah, I do," Rodin began. "Compared to Black-Steel Gajeel, your attacks are pure garbage. All I felt was tickles from those attacks, hell, even a pillow is harder than your fists. Why should I bother to try and fight you if you're not even worthy?"

That was something many people wished the Dragon-Slayer hadn't said.

The magic aura around Bossanova soon turned demonic, making everyone tremble with fear.

He grabbed the Dragon-Slayer's neck once more, pressing down hard and choking him out.

The bandit focused on nothing more than the death of Rodin, grinning with joy at the concept of his face changing colors.

The Dragon-Slayer's vision started to blur out the more his enemy's hands were around his neck. His attempts to punch him off proved useless due to the density of the muscles.

Second by second, the darkness began to swallow up Rodin, drawing him closer and closer to the home of death.

"_Is it really over for me?_" he thought in his mind. "_After all this time, am I just going to lose for good? Why...Why can't I use my magic..._"

The embrace of death climbed up his body, making him go limp. It was only a few seconds left before the Dragon-Slayer would pass.

Images came flashed before his eyes, from his childhood leading up to the battle with Phantom Lord.

When the battle against Gajeel replayed, his **Ironstone Dragon-Mode** simply smiled.

His face looked like a demon.

Realization soon struck him, since that dreadful day, he was afraid. The fear of losing full control forced him to limit himself, resulting in his power now becoming unstable.

Rodin summoned what little strength he had left in his body and let his fears flow away.

"_Be calm, like the forest,_" the voice of Terrageneis echoed in his thoughts.

"I...accept.."

With those single words, a powerful eruption of magic energy exploded out from within the Dragon-Slayer's body.

The grip Bossanova had on Rodin broke, resulting in the shock-wave flinging him right into a wall.

Many of the audience felt the force of the shock-wave blow right across the entire area.

When the rushing winds stopped, many looked back to view and see what had happened to the gladiators.

Looks of fear plastered all their faces.

Standing in the middle of the arena was Rodin, only this time. His appearance regressed into his Ironstone Dragon-Mode.

Though it was different than before.

The stone that cloaked his body was a darker shade of brown, which added a more earthy look to him. His hair spiked up, but was twice as sharp, almost making him look like a hedgehog. His forearms had on gauntlets like the ones he summoned with his regular magic.

Lastly, his smile revealed sharper teeth, almost like he had a shark's set of teeth.

Bossanova's facial expressions from under his mask gave a look of shock by what he saw.

Slowly after, laughter released out from his mouth, turning manic.

The bandit slowed down his laughing, eventually stopping.

"Finally...I've never been so happy, I'm finally gonna have fun!" Bossanova sobbed, giving a mix of crying and laughing.

All Rodin did was stare at his opponent, waiting to see what he would do now.

The battle continued.

Within moments, the bandit disappeared once more with High-Speed. He attempted to sucker punch the Dragon-Slayer once more.

This time, the shoe was on the other foot.

Right when Bossanova threw the punch, he felt the impact of it connect. A shock-wave pushed through the area.

Everyone in the audience gasped in horror.

Holding the large fist of Bossanova with only one hand, Rodin easily saw the attack coming, and blocked it.

"**Neat trick, now let me try!**"

Right when he said that, the Dragon-Slayer sent his own punch to the bandit-leader.

Many yelled in horror by what occurred.

When the punch connected, the bandit felt pain. For the first time in a long time.

It followed by him feeling the force of the wall he got sent into breaking down and collapsing.

Murmurs filled the audience, which lead to many of them booing at what the Dragon-Slayer had done. It grew more and more intense, but soon stopped when Rodin's magic energy erupted.

It was enough to make them all sit down and shut up.

Though with the silence, came a familiar laughter, following a break through the rubble.

Bossanova wasn't down just yet.

His attack continued with him going once more on the offensive, making Rodin take a defensive stance to get ready.

"_I sure hope Trixie and Becca are having better luck than us,_" he thought to himself.

The clash of punches from both caused a flux in their magic energy, shaking the ground beneath them.

Unbeknownst to them, the prisoners bellow could feel the force of their battle.

* * *

_**Prison Cells**_

Back down on the cells, Trixie and Doji found themselves stuck in a bad situation.

Both had to deal with the jailer, who by the looks of his attire, wasn't exactly in his right mind.

Reaching to his back, the man pulled out a sharp ax he had attached to a belt around his chest.

He swing it downward to cut the feline in half.

Thankfully, Trixie's instincts for battle made her capable of regaining her sense. In seconds, she managed to dodge the incoming attack. When she did, the cat transformed into her **Battle-Form**.

Jumping up, she attempted to deliver a hard roundhouse kick to the jailer's head.

The blow made it's mark, but didn't affect him in anyway.

Only Trixie felt a feedback.

The density of the man's skull was like iron, making her leg feel like she had just kicked an iron pillar.

Pushing back, the cat felt her leg in pain, causing her to drop down on one knee, holding the injured leg.

Her attempt to hurt him made the jailer chuckle under his bunny mask.

He followed it by pulling the ax back and attempting to behead her by swinging it diagonally.

She wouldn't be able to dodge it in time.

Though thankfully, a miracle occurred.

A long **blood blade** emerged from the cage, landing a direct blow to the jailer's sides. It cut deep, causing him to yell out in pain.

Trixie looked over to the cage, tears blurring her vision, and saw Doji had dragged himself out of there.

"That's payback, you bastard!" he barked out, breathing heavily due to having fatigue.

His blade soon destabilized, causing the blood to drop down and splatter on the ground.

The feline knew that he couldn't do it again and went towards him. Though her leg couldn't move too well and forced her to limp.

Using what strength she had, Trixie managed to get him onto her shoulders, despite feeling great pain through her leg.

All that the feline could do at that point was try and get out of there quickly, not knowing how long the jailer would be down.

She wished that the thought never crossed her mind.

Before they could even walk, both of them saw their enemy attempt to stand up, using the ax as a cane and inching his way towards them.

Trixie started to move as fast as she could to the exit, looking over her shoulder to see him starting to pick up speed.

It was a race to see who would make it to the door first.

Seeing the door right within their reach, she reached out in an attempt to pull it open.

Her chance didn't come.

The jailer had caught up to them and stood now on his two feet, ignoring the blood dripping down from his side. His shadow appeared in front of the two, showing the action he was about to take.

Him swinging the ax one more time.

With no room to dodge or anywhere to hide, Trixie truly felt that their time was about to come.

She was wrong.

The door flung right open, knocking the two of them down to the ground besides the jailer's feet.

Dazed, Trixie couldn't see what was going on, only that another figure had began to attack the jailer. After the sounds ended, the figure besides her fell backwards.

After a few seconds of getting her vision back, the feline saw who had brought down the limbering giant, Becca.

The black-haired mage dropped down to her knees, helping Trixie and her brother against the wall.

"You two okay?" she inquired, looking over Trixie before focusing on her brother.

"Yeah, leg's kind of busted, but I'm fine," the feline replied.

Becca looked over her brother's wounds, realizing how much they had hurt him. She wanted to yell out in frustration, punch the walls, do something that could make her feel better.

She chose none of them.

Instead, she broke down crying, moving her arms around her brother and giving him a gentle hug. It was all that had the prisoners could hear.

The crying soon stopped when Becca felt a hand touch her back, making her move away to see her brother, smiling.

"Don't do that, it's not as bad as it looks," he assured her, making the older sister shake her head. A chuckle came with it.

"Idiot, don't act so tough," the black-haired woman retorted, giving him another hug.

Trixie looked on, giving a smile at the reunion the siblings were having.

It soon cut short.

The intensity of the rumbling increased, followed by a powerful surge of magic energy that the three of them felt.

"What the hell?" Doji uttered, shocked by what he was sensing. The power was something he hadn't ever felt before, making him start to sweat in fear.

"Who's that coming from?" Becca inquired, never feeling any kind of power like that in her life. Even amongst some of the mages she stole from.

A chuckle broke the two out of their surprise.

They turned to see the feline have a smile plastered on her face.

"That would be my partner, the **Stone Dragon-Slayer!**" she declared, reverting back to her normal form due to her magic running out.

Becca knew that if it was Rodin, then the building wouldn't last much longer. Turning around, she grabbed her brother's arms and pulled him up to carry him.

"This is gonna get ugly fast, come on Trixie!"

Hearing the worry in her tone, the cat struggled to get up and followed the black-haired mage out of the cells.

Both found themselves back into the hallway, but noticed that some of the other bandits were running into a different hall.

The trio realized where it led and went towards it.

Waiting for the last bandit to pass by, they started their trek towards whenever the path went. Hoping that they'd soon reach the exit, before it was too late.

* * *

_**Phew, quite the intense situation they've been put into, one can only hope that they survive to live another day. Alright everyone, I hope you enjoyed the second chapter I promised. I didn't put too many references: Only one was the jailer, I based it off the Juggernaut from Resident Evil, who had a giant ax with him. Murder-Rally is based off of an actual event from the telltale game: Tales from the Borderland, which is where I also got the name for the Bandit-Leader.**_

_**The next chapter may be an epilogue, depending on how much I will actually have to write for the ending, but after this arc, I will be moving on to a longer filler, which will lead up to the next installment of the Fairy Tail story, Tower of Heaven. I will not be posting until the week after next, school finals are next week and I've got to really prepare. So wish me luck, have a great day everyone, and I will see you next time on Chapter 16: Bossanova's Wrath - Part III.**_


	16. Bossanova's Wrath: Part III

_**Chapter 16**_

_**Bossanova's Wrath: Part III**_

* * *

**_Mountains_**

**_Colosseum_**

The once calm and silent area soon became filled with the echoes of rumbling. Vibrations went out in all different directions, causing destabilization within the chasm.

The epicenter of this event was the ancient ruins.

Powerful shock-waves exploded outward, each one shaking the foundation itself. One after another, it continued to shake apart the area, making the mountain shake itself.

Almost like it was afraid.

The origin was from the intense battle taking place between two powerful mages.

* * *

_**Arena**_

On the battlefield, Rodin Clark and Bossanova still continued on their intense battle. Each impact they dealt to each other echoed to the audience.

The two were the origin of the shock-waves.

With more attacks they threw at each other, everyone around braced themselves. When the next wave hit, most covered themselves to protect against the wind.

The aura from both had different atmospheres, which most of the people could feel, even from far away seats. Rodin's had a determined feel to want Bossanova done for.

While his opponent wanted the action to get more and more intense. For the bandit, that match was one of the greatest moments of his life.

It showed with the change of his appearance the more energy he poured out.

His **Muscle-Magic** had reached it's fullest potential, giving him a body that made him look almost inhumane.

The chest part of his body had incredibly giant muscles, almost double the size of normal human ones. It moved up his arms towards his collar and shoulders, making his head look small in comparison. Despite all the increase in muscle, his mask still remained on.

By that point, Bossanova was more beast than man.

Using his **High-Speed**, the man attempted to deliver a flurry of strikes towards Rodin.

Though thanks to his Stone-Sensing, each move he made allowed the Dragon-Slayer to expect where the next one would be. Most got countered by his own flurry, matching each blow with the same force.

Between their colliding movements and speed, nobody could make out what was happening.

Both managed to land a hit on the jaw. The attack made them both skid backwards across the ground, until they stopped before the walls behind them.

When Rodin stopped moving, he dashed forward, hoping to take the offensive.

Bossanova mimicked his action, but didn't expect the next step.

The Dragon-Slayer pushed off from the ground, jumping upwards to reach a few feet in the air. Afterwords, he rolled forward and began to spin like a ball towards his opponent.

Before anyone could blink, Rodin directed his leg down and landed a powerful drop kick right into the bandit's head. The force of the impact dropped him straight into the ground, crashing and breaking the floor with his face.

The attack didn't stop.

Landing down, Rodin grabbed the back of Bossanova's vest, lifting him up like he was a piece of paper. Swinging over his shoulder, the Dragon-Slayer flung the bandit-leader right into the audience.

The people on that part of the area ran away quickly, narrowly avoiding the impact of the bandit's body.

A cloud of dust plumed upwards, covering what happened to that section of the Colosseum.

It started to disburse, showing everyone Bossanova's body, which was now face down in a pile of rubble.

Everyone looked on, not believing what Rodin had just did. Some actually rubbed their own eyes to make sure it wasn't a dream.

A few seconds of waiting later, he started moving once more. Though now, he began to produce an aura many of the audience recognized.

Dark, brooding, and enraged.

His magic energy began to rise up, almost manifesting itself into a figure.

The bandit turned to look back at Rodin.

"You...broke...my RING!" Bossanova roared out.

Everyone sitting in the front rows quickly got up and rushed up to the higher levels.

They knew that things were about to get complicated.

The bandit's body began to glow with a purple aura, showing an illustration of him growing much larger once more. Only this time, some parts of his body began to warp.

Everyone could only shake with fear at what the bandit was turning into.

A lot of them even quitting and leaving the area before it was too late.

The light soon died down until only a figure remained, which made a lot of the remaining audience look away in disgust at the bandit's new form.

Bossanova's body now had a different texture all over his skin. It replicated the pattern like a tree branch, mostly around his chest area. The muscles around him made his grow almost to eight feet, dwarfing Rodin's current height. He now had what looked like a pair of tube-like appendages coming out of his shoulders.

Even Rodin's brown eyes widen when he saw what the bandit had become.

When the transformation finished, the bandit jumped off the seats. Upon landing, it caused a rumble that reached the entire Colosseum.

His attention was now focused solely on Rodin, giving a smile underneath his mask.

Bossanova's happiness reached new heights.

"No one's ever made me go **Overboost**. It's been so long since I've gone to this form...Thank you."

Out of nowhere, tears began to drop down and pass through Bossanova's mask.

It made the Dragon-Slayer widen his eyes, seeing just how crazy the bandit really was.

After the tears stopped, he dashed forward at three-times the speed, moving almost like it was instantly. Rodin's Stone-Sensing could only get small glimpses of him moving in many directions.

Even he couldn't predict where his next attack would come from until he did it.

From the right, he revealed himself and attempted to punch the Dragon-Slayer

Detecting the vibration, Rodin managed to retaliate and counter, but soon found that his opponent disappeared once more.

Bossanova went in and disappeared, repeating his actions, leaving Rodin to only try and dodge or counter the incoming attacks.

With little luck.

One hit managed to land a blow right in his stomach, making him cough out the air in his body. With that hit, Bossanova found the opening to continue the assault.

The Dragon-Slayer could only put up his arms, defending to the best of his ability.

Rodin's endurance was strong, but even he knew that his power-up wasn't completely stable. He'd lose it soon, and tried to think of a way to get him for one powerful attack.

An idea came to mind.

Pulling back his arm, the Dragon-Slayer punched down, breaking the floor. The force was enough to make the ground uproot and create a small wall of rubble to give him some cover.

It wouldn't last, but he knew that was all the time he needed.

Inhaling a large amount of air, the Dragon-Slayer began to charge his magic energy, readying one attack. He knew that attack would have to be all or nothing, or else.

When the bandit finally broke part of the debris, he grinned at Rodin's back.

It was all over.

"DIE NOW!" was the last thing he yelled before sending his last punch towards his opponent.

Rodin turned around and exhaled.

"**Ironstone Dragon's Roar!**"

The full release of the spell collided directly at Bossanova, hitting him with full force.

Pain surged through his entire body, making him yell out in agony. Though unknown to the Dragon-Slayer, tears poured down his face.

The bandit finally found someone who showed him a good time, and even better, defeated him. To Bossanova, all that he ever wanted was someone to play.

He finally gained his wish.

The roar blasted the bandit right into the side of the Colosseum that was inside the mountains. The remaining audience realized what was about to happen and evacuated the area.

Rodin's spell soon died down, forcing his **Dual-Dragon Mode** to cancel and return his body back to normal. The attack left him greatly weakened, which caused him to fall down on all fours and breath heavily.

Despite the release of the spell a second time, Rodin now felt his power still in his control, meaning that he gained a small degree of control over the power he obtained.

The Dragon-Slayer up to where his roar went, gaining a look of shock by what he did.

In front of him, the force of the impact destroyed the other half of the Colosseum. Along with that, the sharpness of his roar drilled deep into the mountains, carving a clear path.

He chuckled a bit, muttering how that roar was his personal best.

A small realization hit him.

There was no signs of Bossanova, only thing left from him was his mask. Guilt hit Rodin, making him tighten his fist in frustration.

He was a lot of things, but never in his life did he kill someone.

Though as if by some miracle, something made his conscious clean.

From where the remaining part of the Colosseum was, the body of the bandit-leader laid there. Back to his normal appearance.

Before he could get up to go towards, the Dragon-Slayer found himself in another bad situation.

With how much power he put into his last attack, it caused a dangerous destabilization within the mountain. The cracks from the large hole traveled upward, starting to shake the area and break off pieces.

Rushing footsteps went towards Rodin, making him look over to find Rhys.

Who now had his cloak off and a satchel on his side.

He stopped and got down on his knee next to his comrade, grabbing his left arm and pulling it over his shoulders.

Rhys knew that the two had to get out of there immediately.

"We must leave now, the mountain will collapse at any moment," the Barrier-mage advised.

Before he could move, Rodin pulled back a bit, turning his head over to look at the body of his enemy.

He had already felt the guilt of thinking he killed, and knew that it couldn't happen again.

"We can't leave him," he added, making Rhys look back with shock.

The healer knew that Rodin was a kind and noble soul, but even he believed that his statement was disturbing.

"He hurt my wife, kidnapped my brother-in-law, and you want to save him?!"

Rodin got out of his grip, quickly jogging over to where Bossanova was. He grabbed his arm and did the same thing Rhys did for him.

Though due to his weakened body, the weight made it difficult to move. After trying to just take one step, his leg gave out and made him fall.

Though luckily, something caught him.

Feeling a soft-texture, Rodin saw that it was a barrier that kept him from hitting the ground. After putting Bossanova on top of it, he turned towards Rhys.

A look of indifference was on his face.

"Look, even if he is a piece of shit, I'm a Fairy Tail Mage. We don't take our lives or kill others, that's the one rule that is never broken."

The healer sighed with frustration, walking over to the two and looking down at Bossanova.

All Rhys could do was spit on his exposed face, knowing that his comrade was right. He turned back to Rodin and nodded, making his construct float.

"Come, we need to find the others!"

With their prisoner in had, both now had to head into the Colosseum to find their partners, and a way out.

Otherwise, they'd never see the light of day again.

It proved more difficult since Rhys couldn't make more than one barrier at a time, plus the fact Rodin's body was nearing it's limit.

Upon reaching the exit of the arena, both now heard the breaking of the mountains and shaking become more violent.

They turned to find that the hallway they were running in was starting to collapse behind them.

Both started to move their feet quicker, looking down the other halls to see if any of them had opened paths, most didn't.

Time was running out for them.

Just when it seemed like the end was near, the path they were on had an opened door, leading to the outside.

Only minutes from finding themselves under rocks, Rhys moved his fingers. He throw Bossanova's prison out the door, praying that it was a safe exit.

Both found themselves passing the door and jumping out, narrowly escaping the collapse of the hall.

Only now, a new problem arose.

The door they jumped through lead to a large drop off the mountain-side.

The duo began their fall downward, making them yell out in fear.

Thinking quick on his feet, Rhys saw Bossanova's prison had landed safely, and manipulated it to expand upward.

Both landed on top of the construct, breathing heavily by how close they were to death.

The healer moved his fingers down, lowering the height until both of them now found themselves in front of a forest.

The rumbling caught their attention.

Behind them, the entire mountain collapsed on itself. Sealing the entrance to the now buried Colosseum and covering it up.

The ancient ruins now became lost ruins.

After getting off of Rhys construct, Rodin looked up and saw how high both of them fell. He secretly thanked his grandma for helping him get over his fear of heights.

Before he could celebrate, the Dragon-Slayer saw his comrade yell out for his wife.

"Becca!" the healer bellowed out, looking over to where another entrance to the ruins was. Only now, rubble only blocked it's way.

Before he could go towards it, a familiar voice called out.

"Rhys!"

It was his wife's.

Looking up, the Barrier-mage saw his wife safe and sound on another exit on the cliff. She had her brother on her back and Trixie next to her leg.

He smiled and began to cry.

Rodin waved at them, feeling relieved that the three of them were alive and well.

Trixie helped Doji off her comrades back, summoning her wings and gliding down with her paws on the man's back.

Leaving Becca to use her String-Magic and latch onto the side of the cliff to swing down to them.

Right when she landed, Rhys rushed to her and embraced her tightly, pulling back to give her a deep kiss.

His wife initially got over the shock and kissed back, wrapping her arms around his back.

The action made Rodin blush a bit, turning towards the feline to hug her and check over her wounds.

After almost a minute, the couple separated and started breathing heavily.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered, rubbing his thumb softly on her cheek. She leaned closer to his touch, feeling his warmth give her comfort.

"Told you before, will take a lot more to stop this thief," she replied, sighing with relief that her new allies and family survived.

Becca left Rhys embrace and went to go check up on her brother, seeing Trixie place him against a tree.

Her husband followed and sat next to her, looking over Doji's body to assess how bad of a condition he was in.

"Hmm, good thing you guys got to him." He admitted, reaching into his satchel and pulling out a container. "If they had continued torturing him, he'd probably wouldn't have survived."

Opening his mouth slightly, Rhys poured the elixir in and closed it shut.

The Blood-mage opened his eyes and groaned in disgust.

He never liked having to take the medicine.

"Ugh...What hit me?" he inquired, wiping his eyes and felt his wounds start to heal.

"Try not to move so much, it'll take a bit before the elixir fully takes hold," his brother-in-law remarked.

After that, his second patient would arrive.

Feeling weak and almost out of magic, Rodin dropped to his knees, making Trixie look in fear and see if he was alright.

He reassured her it wasn't too bad.

After finishing with Doji, Rhys went to go check up on his comrade. The healer saw that the Dragon-Slayer had taken quite a beating, but saw that it wasn't too serious.

"Amazing, it's like your body is just like one cushion," he acknowledged, handing his patient the same drink.

Though unlike his brother-in-law, Rodin easily drank it without any complaints.

"Years of training under a dragon can toughen you up," Rodin replied, leaning up against a tree like Doji.

After the two were resting, Rhys turned to Becca and Trixie.

"So, how the heck did you two manage to make it out alive? I saw the mountain, it crushed nearly everything," he inquired.

Becca found a seat on a stump behind her, exhaling in exhaustion and turning back to her husband.

"Well, it went like this."

* * *

**_Flashback_**

**_Underground Hallway_**

_After the violent eruption of Rodin's roar had caused a powerful blow to the mountain, all things went to hell._

_The underground was shaking like crazy, practically breaking apart the entire structure. Every single bandit was running towards the nearest exit._

_Some even knocking down others to clear the way._

_Despite passing right around them, none of the bandits seemed to care about Becca or Trixie, even when most saw Doji on their backs._

_The duo ran like crazy trying to find some way out, knowing that the entire Colosseum would collapse under an entire mountain of rocks._

_Though their luck wasn't turning out good._

_All the exits they encountered had many bandits rushing towards them. Their options were starting to run out. _

_After a few more minutes of running in the halls, Becca found herself bumping into two individuals._

_The collision caused her to fall down on her butt._

_Trixie stopped, looking at the two people in front of them, getting a bad feeling._

_Both wore had on hooded cloaks and animal masks to conceal their identity._

_One was a wolf and the other was a dragon._

_"Who are you?" The feline inquired, trying to call up any magic left in her._

_The two turned to their direction, then focused on Becca, who moved back and glared under her mask._

_"The exit's down the left hallway, I'd hurry," the dragon-masked person advised._

_After that, the two ran passed the trio, going towards where the walls were shaking._

_Trixie raised her eyebrow in confusion, wondering who those two were. She was about to ask Becca, but saw that she already ran off in the direction._

_The feline yelled out and ran with her, seeing light at the end of the hallway._

* * *

_**Present**_

"If it wasn't for those two, we'd probably flat as pancakes," Trixie admitted.

Her remark fell on deaf ears.

She noticed the married couple have a serious expression on their faces. It followed by an enraged aura, but slowly died down when Doji coughed.

Becca rushed over to check up on her brother, leaving Rhys to grip his staff in frustration.

"Is everything okay?" the feline inquired, making the healer nod in reply.

Though he didn't turn to her.

"Yes. Just nerves from all this," he replied, turning back to Bossanova, who was still unconscious.

He cancelled the barrier and went towards the bandit-boss, grabbing some wiring to bind his arms and legs.

Before Trixie could ask why he was lying, Rodin spoke out.

"Thanks Rhys, I owe you," the Dragon-Slayer declared, making the healer chuckle.

"If anything, We owe you," Rhys replied with a chuckle.

After finishing the tying, the healer summoned up another barrier to imprison Bossanova in.

"Yeah, "Becca began, getting up to walk towards them after making sure Doju was okay.

"You helped us out, even after we gave you guys such a bad deal. I owe you guys, not just for saving my brother, but for keeping my husband safe."

The feline walked up to them and smiled, remembering why the two went there in the first place.

"Well, we could start with that rew-" Trixie was about to finish her statement, but stopped and shook her head. "Actually, never mind. It was our pleasure."

Her partner's eyes widen and turned white, shocked by what the feline just said.

"Are you serious?!" Rodin blurted, finding himself getting hit by her in the gut. He fell face-first and held his stomach.

Her demonic aura made the couple look on in nervousness, choosing not to question Trixie, not at the expense of their safety.

Without realizing, the sun slowly started to rise up, triggering the start of the new day. Though for them, it was time to take a break and recharge before heading their separate ways.

Unbeknownst to them, the same two people were now hidden away on the side of the mountain, looking down on them through binoculars.

* * *

**_Evening_**

**_Train_**

After having some food, a little r&amp;r, and saying their goodbyes, the Fairy Tail duo found themselves on the next train home.

Despite not having gotten a big reward or reputation, the two felt continent with their victory.

They could return to their guild with their heads held high.

Inside the compartment, Rodin found himself sitting and leaning against the wall. looking out the window. Unlike most Dragon-Slayers, he didn't get motion sickness as bad. Mostly because he always felt better under something solid.

He showed to have bandages wrapped around his neck, along with some on his arms, but hidden by the jacket arms.

There were still signs that he had it, which came in the form of large burps.

Some could even shake walls.

After he let out one that lasted a few seconds, the sound of the door caught his attention.

When it opened, Trixie found her way inside, handing him a pastry she got from the dining car.

"Thanks," he smiled, grabbing the roll and beginning to eat. "Did they have any watermelon pieces?"

The feline didn't reply, only giving a distant look towards the window.

"Hello?...Trixie!"

"Huh?" she replied, looking back to her partner.

"You okay? You've been quiet since we got to the train. You normally complain about how these seats are too hard and the food sucks."

The feline sighed and crossed her arms, which for Rodin meant that she had a suspicion.

"Call it a hunch, but I think those two were hiding something," she admitted.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know... Just how they looked when I mentioned the masked-men."

"You think they knew them?"

"I don't know..."

After that last statement, Trixie laid on her seat and turned away.

Rodin gave a look of concern, turning his attention back to the window.

All he could do at that point was just enjoy the views that passed him by.

Unaware to the duo, both of them had a right to be suspicious.

* * *

_**Campsite**_

All across the lake, small spots of light soon shined down, each reflecting one of the many stars around the forest. It gave a calming sense of serenity and peace.

One could say, it was a place for people to relax.

After going their separate ways from the Fairy Tail mages, the small family trio made camp on the edge of the lake.

The married couple couldn't continue their travels due to their brother.

Inside the tent, Rhys was looking over Doji, who fell asleep after given more herbal medicine. The healer noticed that the wounds were starting to get better, making him smile with confidence.

He then raised the blanket back on his brother-in-law and left the tent, allowing him to continue sleeping in peace.

When he got out, the sounds of water caught his attention, making him turn over to the lake.

He saw his wife skipping stones.

The woman reached down to grab another smooth one, aiming and flicking it with her wrist.

It skipped across the water three times.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself. Before she could grab another one, someone threw a rock from her side and skipped it four times.

"Like I tell you, don't do it angry. It'll get worse."

Becca huffed and crossed her arms, feeling Rhys hands wrap around her waist and bring her closer.

"What's wrong?"

The black-haired mage sighed in exasperation, looking up to the moon.

"I just can't believe they found us. Six years of running, and they find us."

"I know... I never expected them to, though I can only wonder why they were following the Fairy Tail mages."

A voice answered his question.

"We have our motives, which are none of your concern."

The couple turned over towards the direction of the voice, getting ready to fight if the need arose.

From the trees, both of the masked-males dropped down, looking over to them.

"What's more interesting is: What made you think the two of you could leave the **Specters**?" The wolf-masked male inquired.

"Other than the fact we're murderers?!" Becca retorted, feeling tears start to pool in her eyes. All she could hear was the sounds of painful screams followed by slashing blades.

"You weren't chosen because of your sensitivity," the dragon-masked male added. "Being one of us is an honor-"

"Honor?!" Rhys intervened, moving in front of Becca. "There is no honor in being mercenaries! We did unspeakable things in the name of peace?! That's a load of crap!"

The wolf-masked male was about to charge at the healer, but found himself stopped by the dragon-masked male. A stare between the two caused the other to turn away and disappear.

The dragon-masked male looked back to the couple, sighing in frustration.

"Did you tell Bossanova about us?!" Rhys inquired, feeling his magic energy beginning to climb.

"Unfortunately. We needed the mage from Fairy Tail to come.." he replied, turning back over to the couple, who now had furious expressions on their faces. "You know we can't let you go."

Becca wanted to go and kill the man in front of him, but felt her husband's calming hand on her shoulder. He whispered to her, causing the black-haired mage to spit at the figure and head back to her brother's tent.

Both men now looked at the other.

"I know what your code demands, but you know that the bodies were already found," Rhy added.

"Even so, you know what will happen if we don't take you in. They'll just send someone more ruthless, it's just better to deal with it now," the dragon-masked man replied.

"I'll take my chances."

"Even if it means the life of your brother?"

The expression on Rhys said it all.

With that last statement, the dragon-masked man shook his head and started walking away.

"Bossanova's already dead, we made sure a poison would course through his body should he lose, I'd bury the body and move on."

"Wait," the healer called out, making the male stop in his tracks. "Why are you tracking the **Stone Dragon-Slayer** specifically? He's not the type to just go by your rules if you force him to join you."

The man simply turned his head and looked at Rhys.

"A parent protects their child, even if it means hurting them in the process. It's the only way he'll follow a different path."

With that last statement, the man disappeared with the darkness, leaving Rhys with a shocked expression on his face.

All he could do was just look up at the sky, wondering how someone could do that and still call themselves a Father.

* * *

_**Open Road**_

A couple of miles away from the campsite, both masked men now walked side-to-side, heading down the road.

"What did you tell them?" the wolf-masked male inquired, turning to see his partner.

Silence was the only answer he received.

"Come on, don't tell me those two got to you. You said so yourself, we didn't get picked because we were sensitive."

"Shadows can cut through the corruption and bring real peace," his partner replied. "Don't know whether I hate that more or just want to believe it's true."

"Doesn't matter. We're expendable, hell, by the time your kid's twenty-five, you'll be nothing but-"

The wolf-masked male couldn't finish his sentence due to his partner grabbing him by the cloak. A brooding aura surrounded the man wearing the dragon-mask.

"Say that again and I'll make sure you don't get to use that mouth of your's."

The wolf-masked male pushed him off, fixing his cloak afterwords.

"Remember your place. I outrank you, and the only reason I've let you do things your way is to ensure that we see your worthless brat make an impression. Try that shit again, I'll kick you off and do it old fashion, got it?!"

With that statement, the wolf-masked male continued forward, leaving him behind.

All the man could do was just lie on the ground, looking up to the night sky and wondering if what he was doing was worth it.

He took off his mask and stood up, revealing the man to be **Adrian Clark**, father of Rodin.

Time ravaged his face.

He now had two deep scars that ran down both his eyes, passing through and ending right near his cheeks. Additionally, his hair cut wasn't like it was back in the guild. He was completely bald, except for some hair that started to grow back.

The Dragon-Slayer reached into his cloak and pulled out a small golden locket that was around his neck.

Using his thumb to open it, a picture of his wife and son covered both sides.

"**Judith**..."

A small tear drop landed on his wife's picture, showing only his left eye crying, hinting that his right eye was fake.

All he could do was close it and put back on his mask, covering his head once again with the hood.

He swore to himself that his son would never be part of the life that he chose for himself.

With the wind blowing by, Adrian simply continued forward and left towards his next destination.

* * *

**_Shocker! Bet no one could expect that to happen. You're probably wondering why I am already updating now, well it's cuz I needed to make sure I got it up cuz I will be spending these few days studying and I can't worry about what I would write for this chapter. Sorry if it seems a little short and off, but hopefully you guys will still enjoy it._**

**_For References: Specters, from Mass Effect series, are considered to be top secret so I put the same concept, there will be more explanations about them in the future arc I got in store. Bossanova's overboost is based off of Yu-Yu-Hakasho's Togoru's 100 percent form. _**

**_Once again, wanna thank everyone for keeping up with this story and putting up with my changes. Once I finish my semester, I'll have a week before I go on break, so I will be sure to fix up anything I ended up making mistakes on. Until then, stayed tune for Chapter 17: Tournament Gamble: Part I. _**


	17. Tournament Gamble: Part I

_**Chapter 17**_

_**Tournament Gamble**_

_**Part I**_

* * *

**_Magnolia_**

_**Lost Forest**_

_**Hidden Chasm**_

Deep towards the middle of the entire forest, there was a special part that many would never have known existed. The only place where much of the sunlight shined freely.

The view of it could make even the coldest of people drop tears. Much of the nature surrounded that single area. Which included woodland creatures and a waterfall, crashing and showering the trees at it's top.

Though soon, that silence and majesty soon became disrupted by explosions.

Many of the animals fled in fear, not wanting whatever was causing that destruction to find them.

Little did they know, the person wasn't the type to harm anyone while training.

Near the base of the waterfall, on a small patch of land, was **Fairy Tail's Rodin Clark**. Since his return back to Magnolia a few days ago, he took some time off taking requests to train.

His training outfit was a muscle shirt without sleeves, exposing the scars on his forearms, reaching up to his elbow. His lower half had on fitting sweats, without wearing any kind of footwear.

He was currently doing a hand-stand with one arm, balancing one small boulder with the other, and one twice his size on his feet.

Rodin had been in that pose for nearly two hours, but showed no signs of fatigue.

Though due to the sweat he was producing, some woman would go crazy by seeing his now moist body and muscles.

The Dragon-Slayer threw up the small boulder, high as he could, and released his **Stone-Dragon's Roar** spell.

When the spell hit it's mark, it created a small explosion that echoed.

So far, he had been working on how to better control his magic energy, increasing the power of his spells, and trying to create new moves.

After three days, the results showed quite quickly, which even surprised him.

Though he still had a long way to go.

"Always pushing yourself overboard, huh Rodie?" The Dragon-Slayer opened his eyes and saw the feline right in front of him.

He couldn't tell whether she was frowning or smiling given his predicament.

"How'd you find me?" He inquired, rolling the bolder off his feet and getting back on his feet.

She chuckled and handed him a towel, allowing him to clean the sweat off his body.

"Didn't see you at the apartment this morning. Figured you'd be here."

He chuckled and draped the towel on his shoulder.

"Am I really that predictable?"

"Yup. Everyone's been asking why you hadn't come by the guild."

That statement made Rodin raise an eyebrow, causing him to sit down on a make-shift chair he carved from another stone.

"What's up?"

"Get this: Remember **Duke Marsh**?"

He nodded and got flashbacks of how he along with **Team Shadowgear** helped him and the Mayor of Magnolia.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Well, the guild got a request from him again, but here's the weird part: He requested us by name."

The Dragon-Slayer's eyes widen at the news. He knew a lot of times he and Trixie asked people for help, but never one did anyone ask for them.

A small part of him jumped with joy, feeling like people did care, something he wished would've happened when he was a kid.

"So what exactly is the request?" He inquired, grabbing a canteen next to his chair to take a drink.

After he asked the question, the feline reached into her new bag she bought while doing odd jobs around Magnolia.

It showed to be a brown traveling bag, in her size, on her back.

After taking it off and reaching around the inside, she finally pulled out the request and handed it to him.

Grabbing it, he turned it over and began to read what it said.

* * *

_**Location: Marsh Manor, Venture Town**_

_**Requesting Fairy Tail mages that helped me before, future of my town depends on it.**_

_**Reward: Fifty Million Jewels.**_

* * *

The last part of the request made him gawk in shock, leaving his mouth hanging wide-open. It was the first time in his life he ever saw that many zeros.

He snapped out of the trance when a thought came to mind.

"Wait. If this is worth that much, why didn't the master label it as S-Class?"

The feline crossed her arms and sighed.

"The Mayor himself personally delivered it, told Makarov that it needed to be us."

"What about Levy and the guys?"

"They left to do another mission before we got this, it's suppose to last them almost a week."

The Dragon-Slayer looked down and reread it.

"I get it's a bit strange, but with how the Mayor reacted, he needs help now," she added.

Rodin turned his attention to his partner, seeing that she was on board for it. Though he secretly guessed it was mostly for the money.

He handed the paper back to her and nodded, making her smile and fly up with joy.

"For now, just get home and make sure we're set, I'll be there soon," he commented.

She nodded and flew out to head back to their home.

The Dragon-Slayer shook his head and got up, grabbing the towel and began walking towards the path he took to arrive there.

"Noble, even if it's greedy," a voice acknowledged, making Rodin turn and see who spoke to him.

He saw a masked-person, who was actually his father, with a black cloak on and dragon-mask, standing right atop of the water.

"Who are you?" The Dragon-Slayer inquired, transforming his arm into his Stone Dragon Sword. He didn't want to take any chances, especially with strangers.

"Relax kid, I'm not here to harm you," Adrian declared, disguising his voice.

"That so? What, you just come talking to people alone in the woods for the fun of it?"

The masked-man's response was a chuckle, making Rodin raise his eyebrow in confusion.

"I won't ask again, Who Are You?!"

Magic energy began to build up, making the area shake with Rodin's patience wearing thin.

"Wow, gotta admit, you're stronger than I expected. All you need to know is, watch out for those you'd call friends," was all he declared.

Before Rodin could reply, a flash of light blinded Rodin temporarily, making him cover his eyes with his arm.

When he opened his eyes, the man was gone, leaving the Dragon-Slayer all alone.

All Rodin could do was just keep his senses sharp and continue back towards the apartment.

Hiding in the shadows of the tree, Adrian continued looking at his son until he disappeared.

"Just like his mother, hard to trust others," he muttered to himself. With his son gone, the man disappeared into the forest, leaving no trace of where he was going or what his plans were.

* * *

**_Fiore_**

**_Country-side_**

**_Train_**

The morning sun soon reached it's highest point, noon. With it, came the increase of sunlight that shined across the lands and cities. Though at that certain point, it's focus was on the moving top of the train passing by.

After having changed and taking a shower, Rodin joined Trixie at the train-station, getting on and heading towards Venture Town.

His outfit consisted of his favorite brown leather-jacket. Underneath it was a red tight t-shirt showing his toned muscles and abs. His lower half had on dark blue loose-fitting pants, and a new pair of brown traveling boots. They had been specially made for Rodin due to his abilities. Each one was much more durable and allowed him to fight without worry of rips or tears.

Trixie's outfit was now a short brown-shirt that covered only her chest and half of her upper-arm, leaving her belly and guild mark exposed. Around her paws were small black wrist-bands, easily able to stretch out whenever she transformed into her **Battle-Form**. On her feet were two white identical ones, making it look like she had on a bandage.

Within the locomotives cabins, many passengers found themselves finding ways to pass the time. Some read books, others worked on documents or paperwork.

For the duo of Rodin and Trixie, their way of relieving boredom was playing cards.

The game's only aim was to call out a card and see if the other had a card exactly the same.

Trixie never lost at this game.

"Hmm...Do you have a king?" she inquired, trying her best not to snicker. The feline found a way of being able to tell when her partner had the card in his hand.

Her observation led her to notice that he always twitches his left eye when he's lying.

Growling in annoyance, the Dragon-Slayer grabbed the card and placed it in the middle.

"Damn, how do you keep knowing?!" he inquired, annoyed by how far he was losing.

More than half the deck was on Trixie's side.

"We've all got our secrets, mine just include being a master of cards," she replied, acting smug. She placed the card on top of it's duplicate.

"I'll figure out your trick one way or another," he declared before putting the cards down on the floor.

"Aww, quitting?" The feline teased.

The pout he did made her laugh.

After picking up the cards and putting them away, Rodin sat back down in his seat and leaned back. He couldn't get the image of the masked-man from his head.

Something about him just rubbed Rodin the wrong way.

"Trixie," he called out, making the feline turn before she headed out the door.

"Yeah?" she inquired.

"The masked-men from the mission with **Becca** and **Rhys**, do you know what kind of masks they were wearing?"

Trixie leaned against the open door and thought for a second.

"One wore a wolf-mask, the other...I Think it was a dragon, but I don't really recall too well."

That part of her reply made him rub his chin, realizing that it wasn't the first time the masked-man made himself known.

He had a feeling there was something going on.

"Why do you ask?" The feline inquired, wondering why her partner would ask something like that now.

Rather than worrying her, he decided to come clean.

"He found me. After you left, he appeared out of nowhere, telling me to watch my back," Rodin admitted.

Trixie's eyes widened, surprised by how exactly did he find the two of them. She got off the wall and closed the door, locking it.

"I don't think he's here. I would've sensed his figure the moment we came on-board," he added.

"That's different when it's on a train," Trixie remarked before going to sit next to him. "I know he helped us out and all, but now, I think we might need to be careful about this."

The Dragon-Slayer wanted to shrug it off and say it was no big deal, but knew otherwise. All he could for now was just sit down and wait for their train to arrive in another hour.

Unbeknownst to them, a bigger plan was developing that would decide the fate of the town they were heading to.

* * *

_**Venture Town**_

_**Marsh Manor**_

Many have heard the stories of Venture Town, the place of luck and skill. Their main attraction, gambling. Despite being an averaged sized-town, some of the biggest buildings there were gambling halls.

By day, the town's atmosphere was exhausting. Like it partied for a straight week and didn't have any energy to wake up. By night, it was completely different.

Standing near the edge of the mountain. Where founders constructed their homes, stood Marsh Manor.

A large country home that had more than ten acres of land under the family's ownership. In the middle stood their main home, a three story mansion that looked like it was from the medieval times. The design made it feel like a castle, though the bright dandelion color and light-blue color turned the ideal away.

Within the house were exquisite pieces of artwork and antiques collected by other generations.

Though in one room, the aura was quite different from the entire home.

Where the house gave off a feeling of open arms and welcoming. That particular room had a brooding darkness that made others pass by it without a second glance.

It was in that room that a dark meeting was taking place.

Inside of the room was a meeting area of sorts, originally the founder's trophy room.

After Duke Marsh inherited it, he turned it into a meeting hall for those that came to visit his manner.

The lighting of the room had a balanced level, where the Duke's side often had on light, but his guests side had on darkness.

Sitting across from him, the shadows covered and showed three figures. Though in front of them was a masked-man.

The person's mask was mainly white and tan in design. Colors separated by red outlines, a dark black out line of a mouth. In the eye-holes, grey outlook conceals his eye color. Lastly, there showed to be a large red dot on the forehead.

The outfit he wore consisted of a grey sleeveless hoodie with a long sleeved black shirt underneath. The hoodie looked like a loincloth over the lower part of his body, tied together by a a black waistband. He also showed to have on dark brow leather armor with red highlights on his legs, arms, and shoulders.

His lower-half had on black baggy pants with grey shoes.

A maid entered the room, wheeling in a cart filled with sweets, placing one each in front of the two.

"Thank you Mary, that'll be all," Marsh commanded, making the woman bow and quickly rush out. "I apologize, these worthless workers are slower than snails."

"No skin off my back," the man replied, showing that he had a deep voice, almost like a cigar was in his larynx. "So, has the time finally arrived?"

"Yes," the leader answered, taking a fork and cutting off a piece of his cake to eat. "I've located the group that will be perfect scapegoats, now we can proceed to the next pha-"

"Actually, before all that, we gotta talk about payment," the masked-man commented.

The statement caused Marsh to drop his fork, looking over to him in shock by what he said.

"I've compensated you when I hired you **Joshi**, that was the pay-"

His guest's hand slammed down to interrupt once more, causing the table to shake for a few seconds.

"No, that was **Wild Breaker's** payment for hiring. My team works for double And ninety percent of what you'll make from this scam."

The Duke saw this as an outrage, irritated by the nerve his employee had for trying to extort him for more money.

Marsh was about to stand up and give his guest a piece of his mind, but soon found something catch his neck. It tightened around, making him start to choke.

A golden-rope wrapped around his neck, creating a noose that left the man struggling to breath.

Looking over to where the rope was coming from, the man saw that one of Joshi's teammates was responsible.

The figure slammed their employee into the table, smothering the cake against his face to torture him.

With every passing moment of the rope tightening, Marsh could feel himself starting to slip away, feeling darkness begin to grab him.

In a matter of mere seconds, the last heir to the wealthy House of Marsh would be nothing more than a lifeless body.

Before that could happen, the Wild Breaker mage decided to have some fun.

Joshi got up casually, walking towards his employer and sitting on top of the table.

He looked down at the man with pity, seeing his face starting to turn blue.

The mage nodded towards his companions, making the figure loosen the rope, and pull it back towards them.

Marsh exhaled desperately, coughing and trying to breath in oxygen to restore his lungs.

A tap on his shoulder turned his attention to Joshi.

"Now look, we're not the bad guys here. You're just a greedy bastard who's too pussy to actually do it. That's why we deserve the ninety, wouldn't you agree?"

As if he was an obedient slave, the Duke nodded in fear, breathing shakily.

"Good-boy, now-"

Before he could finish that sentence, something began to hum, drawing the attention of his team.

They recognized the sound.

On the desk behind Marsh, a **Communication Lacrima** located there started glowing. A sign that someone was trying to get into contact.

Still trying to pull himself together, Marsh stood up from his spot and walked over to the orb. He left the others to simply look on as he kept talking.

After a few minutes, the orb stopped glowing, allowing Marsh to return to them.

The fear was gone from his face.

"I've received word that the train is arriving, my protector will confirm if they made it," he stuttered.

The figures all looked towards their leader, who got up from the table and began walking to the door.

"We'll give you two hours, after that, we'll start our little dance," Joshi stated, opening the door. "Don't cross us worm, there's a reason we're the Wild Breaker's best. And if you do anything to screw us over, you'll find out soon enough."

With that last statement, he and his team walked out of the room and left the manor, leaving Marsh to fall to his knees.

With his face still covered with cake, the Duke got up and went towards the bathroom to get cleaned up.

With everything taking it's place. Venture Town would soon find themselves in the middle of one man's desperation.

* * *

_**Venture Town**_

_**Train Station**_

The train found itself slowing down into the station. Causing it's wheels to screech until the locomotive completely stopped. When it did, the engine released the pent-up steam from the hole on top of it.

After they arrived, the conductor opened all the doors on the compartments. This allowed the current passengers to exit their seats and leave the train to enter the station.

Part of the group was the Fairy Tail mages, who walked out and looked around. They couldn't see any sign of their employee.

The two went walking into the station, passing through some of the other people that were getting off or onto other trains.

Unaware of the figure standing in the shadows, observing them.

"Here I thought rich people were suppose to be punctual," Trixie remarked in sarcasm.

"Relax Trixie," Rodin replied, "It's not exactly like we called ahead to tell him when we were..."

The Dragon-Slayer stopped in mid-sentence, closing his eyes and slamming his fist against a wall that was next to him.

When the vibrations traveled to around the area, he saw many figures, but only one that he recognized from before.

"What's up? You find him?" Trixie inquired, realizing that he had used his Stone-Sensing.

"Not the Duke, but someone we do know."

Before he could turn around, Rodin felt a quick rush of wind, feeling and seeing someone behind him.

Despite being in broad daylight, Duke Marsh's protector, Galvin, still had a sense of mystery.

His current attire wasn't anything like the outfit Rodin saw him in before. All he had on was a black cloak with white markings that appeared like eyes on his hood. It completely covered his head up to his nose, but left his mouth visible.

"Yikes, even I'll admit that was fast," Rodin chuckled before feeling a gun to his back.

"Where are the others from your team?" The man inquired, giving a threatening tone in his voice.

"They were on another mission when we received this, we're all you got," Trixie explained.

The statement made the bodyguard grunt in irritation.

"Follow me, and don't make a noise," was the last thing Galvin said before he began walking towards the bathrooms.

The duo looked at each other, raising their eyebrows in suspicion before going along.

After the two began found themselves at the doors of the restrooms, they saw something unusual occur.

Galvin looked round, seeing that the coast was clear, and touched the female symbol.

A bright light illuminated the bodyguard, making his disappear in an instant.

A look of shock found it's way onto the partners faces.

Rodin moved forward carefully, looking around to make sure no one thought he was being a weirdo. He felt the feline grab the leg of his pants, making sure that she wouldn't fall behind.

The Dragon-Slayer placed his hand onto the emblem, suddenly finding himself out of the station and into a room of sorts.

Trixie heard the glowing stop and opened her eyes slowly, seeing what her new surroundings were.

The duo found themselves in a small wooden cabin, nearly empty aside from wrappings of packaged foods and bottles. It felt more like a safe-house than an actual home.

Both of them looked around to find their greeter.

They found him now sitting on the small table, changed into his formal attire that the duo saw him in back during their first mission.

His oufit consisted of a full-black tight suit from head to toe. Along with a black mask with white circle markings around the eye-slots. Over the tight suit, he shows to wear a special vest with a white-spider marking on it. Additionally, he had two specialized black claw gauntlets. Both reached from his forearm to his shoulder , which had spikes. lastly wearing combat boots with two knee guards covered with the same black spikes as his gauntlets.

"Geez. What kind of dump is this?" Trixie stated, feeling like she needed a bath just for standing there.

"The safe-house I manage under Duke Marsh's orders," the bodyguard replied in annoyance.

"Safe-house? Just what exactly is going on Galvin," Rodin inquired, starting to get a little suspicious of what the deal was.

All answers came in the form of a knock, followed by the pulling of the door.

The trio turned their attention towards it, seeing Duke Marsh arriving.

Like his bodyguard, the Duke had on a black cloak that covered everything, except for his face. When he saw both of the mages, a smile spread.

"Oh thank goodness, I started to worry," he admitted.

His smile started to die down when he noticed that the two were by themselves.

Something was wrong.

"Um... I'm sorry to sound a bit ungrateful, but I specifically asked for the entire team."

"Apparently, they're on other missions, and this is all we got," his bodyguard replied.

Marsh let out a large growl, making the mages look at him with shock. He grabbed a nearby bottle and flung it to the wall, breaking it into pieces.

An aura of rage surrounded him.

A few seconds later, it dissipated and left the Duke exhaling a calming breath.

In his mind, Marsh knew that if his hired mages learned about this, they'd do worse than just choke him. He needed a solution and fast.

"Lord Marsh, is everything okay?" Rodin inquired, walking forward slowly.

To him, the Duke was like a feral animal waiting to pounce.

"Yes... I apologize, thing have been difficult since we last met," the man lied. He sat down and looked over to his scapegoats.

It was time to lay the trap out.

After asking the duo to sit down where Galvin was at, he took in a deep breath and began to plant the seed.

"I've learned that a bad situation is occurring in this town," he began. "About a couple of days ago, I had found that some of the casinos in this town had gotten robbed. One of which donates money to the poorer sections of the area."

Seeing the looks of shock plaster on their faces, the Duke felt a sense of satisfaction with how he easily started to win them over.

"I've contacted the Magic Council. Hoping against hope that they might help, but they can't handle trivial matters. Then I remembered your group, Fairy Tail. You managed to not only defeat Phantom Lord, but also become the best guild in the entire region of Fiore."

With that last sentence, he dropped off of his chair and got to his knees.

"I am begging! Please! Help this town and teach them a lesson!"

Knowing that his face was on the ground, Marsh gave a sadistic smile at his performance, knowing that it was a done-deal.

All he could hear was footsteps, followed by a hand patting him on his shoulder, making him look up with crocodile tears.

Rodin gave a reassuring smile and helped the Duke off the ground.

"Don't worry Duke Marsh, I promise you. Those bastards are gonna pay dearly," he swore.

"Oh thank you... Though I was hoping you would have others with you, their team is powerful..."

Right when he said that, Galvin got up and cracked his neck. Knowing that the plan called for at least four mages, he knew what needed to happen.

"Not alone, figured since you helped the duke, I owe you one," he admitted.

Trixie looked on, surprised by what the bodyguard suggestion, looking back to the Dragon-Slayer.

All Rodin could do was shrug and look over to the body-guard.

"Alright, sounds good to me."

Right when he said that, powerful explosions shook the cabin they were in, almost like an earthquake had just hit them.

"They're back!" Marsh yelled out, running under the table to make sure nothing fell on him.

The trio looked at one another and nodded, rushing out the door.

The Fairy-Tail duo saw their cabin was actually in the middle of a run-down part of the town. Though knowing that there wasn't time to ask why, the duo ran with Galvin towards the epicenter of the explosions.

Their focus on the matter at hand left them unaware of what happened.

Passing through an opening door, the group was unaware of one person spotting them. Their attention was now focused on them, especially Rodin.

"Is that..?" A feminine voice inquired, almost like the two had met before.

Realizing where they were heading, the woman closed the door behind her, following them a good few feet.

Whatever they were about to do, she wanted to see first hand what it was.

* * *

_**Casino Walkway**_

Nearing the center of the town was a special walkway that ran the length of the entire middle of the town. On each of it sides, people could see many casinos next to one another. Although since it was daytime, many of the citizens didn't waste their time there.

Though the excitement soon rose like crazy.

From one of the casino's, an explosion detonated, blowing the entire building. With that one attack, many of the citizens ran for the hills.

Some trying not to trip over some of the poor that slept on the ground or in the alleys.

From the rubble of the now demolished building, Joshi found himself walking through the fire like it was nothing.

A few bystanders looked on, thinking that he was the devil himself.

Using his **Dark Flame Magic**, the masked-man called up flames that almost seemed maleficent. He turned his attention to the large Lacrima in the center of the walkway.

"What an amazing construct,"he acknowledged, extending his hand in a pointing fashion. After he did, a shot of what looked like a black flame launched towards it.

The attack looked more like a solid blast more than erupting flames. When it collided with the crystal, the blast erupted into a wild-fire.

All anyone saw in the middle was the flames dancing.

The masked-man turned over to another casino, cracking his neck before lifting up his other hand.

An orb started to spiral around the palm of his hand, growing more and more as time passed. Soon enough, the orb was the size of a watermelon.

Though before he had the chance to release it.

"**Stone Dragon's Roar!**"

A storm of stone shrapnels aimed and hit Joshi right at the side, causing his arm to move upward. With it, the orb he concentrated released and shot away.

The echo of the blast reverberated across the town.

Now laying down on the ground from the attack, the masked-man easily stood back up. He turned in the direction of where the attack came from.

A smile plastered his face, though found itself hidden away.

The trio landed down on the ground, all now looking towards the man causing destruction.

Rodin glared right towards Joshi, seeing him crack his neck.

"Well, I have to say, that was a good attack, got that chink out of my neck," he acknowledged.

"If that's your best at trying to provoke us, gotta say, an F for trying," Trixie blurted.

The masked-man extended a finger and launched another blast of his flames in an attempt to hit the feline.

Before it could land, Galvin drew his gun and shot a negating magic bullet, causing it to cancel out.

"Next one's aiming for your head," the bodyguard threatened, taking aim to further his threat.

"Aw, it's so cute of you to think that pea-shooter can actually hurt me," Joshi taunted, slamming down his fist into the ground.

Through the cracks, he forced the flames through the ground, causing them to spread forward. Right when they reached the ground under the mages, an eruption burst, catching the trio off-guard.

Each one slammed right into a building, breaking through the wall.

Except for Rodin, who didn't move from his spot, even with the flames burning his entire body.

Joshi stopped and looked back, seeing his work in action, but then had a look of surprise at what he saw.

the Dragon-Slayer's entire body had taken on Stone Dragon Scales. Despite the intense heat that his flames produced, the clothes of Rodin hadn't taken any form of damage.

Both of them looked towards one another, now rushing at high speed to continue their battle.

Though one voice blurted out of nowhere.

"Don't do it!" Duke Marsh yelled out, making Rodin stop to turn towards the voice.

That distraction was enough to let Joshi deliver a powerful Dark-Flame enhanced punch. The force knocked Rodin to the ground, making him tumble and break off the scales he had on.

He struggled to get back up, feeling like he was spinning for hours, making it more difficult to find his footing.

When he did, the look made him gasp in shock.

Marsh was standing with arms extended outward, keeping the masked-man from going any further.

"My lord! You must escape!" Galvin yelled out, having regained consciousness from the impact of the crash. Trixie also managed to get back up, though she found part of her arm a bit burnt from the flames.

"I'd listen to him, otherwise..."

The flames slowly crawled up his entire arm, making it look like a demon hand.

"Why are you doing this?!" The Duke inquired, trying his best to sound convincing.

"Simple really," Joshi began, extending his flame-hand, "I'm bored. Plus we of the Wild Breaker's figured these rich snobs weren't using the money, so we'd trash the place and help ourselves."

Right when he said that, three other casinos exploded simultaneously, each one having a figure jump out of them.

Each one landed right on a side of the masked-man, though each of them had on a cloak with the emblem of the Wild breakers. The mark was a spinning circle with a spiral in the middle.

Marsh knew that he didn't have all his pieces, but couldn't let them know that and decided to try his luck.

"Okay, fine, what if there was a way to end this and give you entertainment?" The Duke inquired, making Joshi calm his flames down.

"I'm listening..."

After that statement, he turned over to see the trio looking to the Duke in confusion by what he meant.

"We hold a tournament, my group vs your's. Should they win, I will gladly give you all my wealth. Though if you should lose, you are to never come back or attack this town..."

Joshi chuckled, partly because of how pathetic his employee's acting was. Though mainly, it was because Marsh screwed up.

It was a chance to make him squirm like the worm he really was.

"I'm counting about three mages, against my four, not exactly a meal for-"

"Not exactly," a voice interrupted, making them all turn to the direction of the voice.

Both Rodin and Trixie's eyes widen with shock at who they saw, leaving the others confused at who the person was.

* * *

**_Things are afoot, just who is this mysterious person that volunteered their service? Stay Tuned and find out on Chapter 18: Tournament Gamble Part II: Reunion. _**

**_I'd like to thank my loyal readers for continuing to support this story, especially Leeustan and Pokemonking, I greatly appreciate the comments you have made and the help with much of the work I've done. _**

**_For references, Joshi is based off of Amon from Legend of Korra, which also includes how his voice sounds similar to his voice actor, Steve Blum. Though everyone had figured it out, the card game Trixie and Rodin were playing was a variation of Go-fish, which I figured hadn't really ever been seen before so I'd thought I put it in the swing of things. Thanks so much and hope to see you guys in the next chapter._**


	18. Tournament Gamble: Part II

_**Chapter 18**_

_**Tournament Gamble**_

_**Part II**_

_**Reunion**_

**_This will be my only update for the week due to some family issues that have come up, I won't be able to work on anymore until the week after next, so hope you all enjoy. I didn't expect the high concentration of Ecchi this week so Viewer's Discretion is Advised. _**

* * *

_**Venture Town**_

_**Casino Walkway**_

Many of the citizens found themselves evacuating the buildings and the streets. The sounds of frightened screams and crying made it feel like a murder had just happened. With the more people rushed to get out, the more security had to escort them to safety.

Though in their minds, no one knew what was a safe distance.

From the direction most were running from, only a few people still stayed in place.

It was the mages that everyone was trying to avoid.

With all the destruction and chaos they caused with the battle, no one wanted to take the chance of being in the middle of the crossfire.

Though it seemed like the fighting had stopped.

All the attention that was once on each other was now on the new person that arrived.

**Rodin Clark** and **Trixie** recognized the woman's face. Surprised by the sudden reappearance of their former enemy.

The **Princess of Phantom Lord**, **Angela Porla**, arrived on scene.

The woman's appearance changed greatly since their last encounter. She gave herself a haircut, shorting it right up to the middle of her neck. It was then placed in a ponytail with a black band.

Her attire now consisted of a short white T-shirt tied into a knot at the bottom, revealing her navel. The sleeves were off, showing the tanned skin of her arms and a crescent scar on her wrist. Due to the tightness of the knot, her endowment seemed almost fitting in the shirt, letting people see the small details of her bra.

The bottom half consisted of tight black leggings that reached down to her ankles, having a strip design down both her thighs. Lastly, she wore traveling shoes that allowed her to move and fight with ease.

She walked forward, making the people follow her movement with their eyes. Rodin especially, who found himself blushing by the movement of her breasts.

He felt a bit of blood drip down from his nose, but quickly wiped it off before she noticed.

After making her way in front of the trio and **Duke Marsh**, Angela faced the masked-man and glared.

"So, who exactly are you?" Joshi inquired, intrigued by this new development.

"Names Angela. Thought I'd come by and see why someone is demolishing my town," she replied.

"Your town?" Trixie blurted out, annoyed by how she acted.

The black-haired woman ignored the felines remark and kept her focus on the masked-man, who shook his head.

"Listen little girl, I don't know who you are and I don't really care. I'm only interested in the others behind you, so if you'll kindly move..."

She chuckled at his threat.

"Didn't I say it already? I'm part of their team, with me makes four. Don't tell me the **Wild Breakers** are bad at math too."

That remark made one of Joshi's comrades attempt to go towards Angela, but got grabbed by one of the other ones.

It was starting to get personal.

The masked-mage's aura turned a brooding pitch-black. It indicated that his rage was starting to grow.

Though instead of flipping out, Joshi simply exhaled a breath of frustration.

He had finally managed to calm down.

"Fine... If you really think these pathetic nobodies have a chance, set it up. My team vs them, winner takes all," the masked-man declared.

"Be ready punks, you'll be begging to die when we're finished with you."

With that last statement, a swarm of paper suddenly spiraled around the group, glowing brightly in the process. The blast of light expanded and blinded everyone in the vicinity.

When it ended, everyone started regaining their sight. After a few seconds to get their vision back, Rodin and his group gave a look of shock.

The Wild-Breaker team disappeared right in front of them.

"Where..Where did they go?!" Marsh inquired, shocked by what they did. He secretly didn't expect them capable of something like that.

Rodin slammed down his fist, thinking maybe they were still in the area, but couldn't find them.

"Whatever that magic was, it sent them somewhere far," the Dragon-Slayer admitted. After pulling his arm off the ground, he then turned towards Angela.

She noticed this and caught his stare.

"My eyes are up here," she teased, making it seem like Rodin's focus was on her breasts.

"Don't try and act cute," he replied in irritation,"Why are you here?"

"God... I don't know whether you have really bad hearing or shitty memory, I just told the dick in the mask. I live here."

"Unlikely story," Galvin added, going for his gun.

"Wait!" Marsh yelled out, coming between the trio and the woman.

At this point, he knew that these people were all he had, and needed to find a way to keep the peace.

"Duke, with respect, you can't trust this woman!" The feline remarked, transforming into her Battle-Form. She already knew what the woman was capable of, and decided not to take any chances.

Angela took a fighting stance, calling up her **Shatterpoint** aura to prepare for anything that might happen.

"Please move lord Marsh," the bodyguard requested, aiming his gun right at Angela's head.

"Damn it, I said wait!" The Duke demanded, putting himself in the line of sight. "The challenge will take place, and we need an even number of people!"

His glance now turned to Rodin, hoping he might be able to convince them.

"Rodin, who exactly is this woman?"

He gave a glance to the black-haired mage, causing her eyes to meet once more with his.

"She was formally part of Phantom Lord, her father's guild," he replied. Though before he could utter another response, the Dragon-Slayer surprised them.

"While I'm a bit skeptical about all this, she did help me once. Even after what she did, I owe her. So I'm gonna trust her."

That statement made most, especially Angela, give a look of surprise. After a few seconds, they lowered down their guard and cancelled their magic.

"Good," Marsh added with relief, turning around to see how much devastation has been down to the walkway.

Straight down the entire walkway, black flames spread down on the ground. It grew bigger and started feeding on the wood and rubble that was on the ground.

He knew that they'd have to spend the entire night getting questioned and made up a lie to get them out of there.

"Galvin, we must report this to the proper authorities immediately," he began to say.

The bodyguard looked with a raised eyebrow, hinted by the movement his face did under the mask.

"Meanwhile, Rodin and Trixie, I must ask that you stay out of sight, given the circumstance, it might lead to people blaming you."

The duo looked at one another, knowing that what he said was true and nodded in agreement.

After speaking, the Duke quickly left the area accompanied by Galvin. The two set off to meet up with his associates to begin the next phase of the plan.

Leaving only Rodin and Trixie with Angela alone.

"We better get going," the Dragon-Slayer commented.

Right when he was about to turn around, the black-haired woman grabbed him by the shoulder, making Trixie stand at the ready.

Rodin turned to see what she wanted.

"It'd be best if you come with me, with what just happened, most of the inns here will not have vacancies," she remarked.

"Us go with you?! Like hell!" Trixie interjected, glaring at the woman with the intent to strike.

Her partner though had a different sense.

While he was able to tell when someone was lying with his Stone-Sensing, all Rodin felt from her was sincerity.

A second tug grabbed his attention, seeing his feline partner give a look of disagreement.

At that point, there was no time to think about it.

"Alright, lead the way," he replied.

Nodding in response, Angela started to move quickly towards an alley, pulling the man's arm.

The feline also found herself holding onto his pants while he was getting dragged.

The trio would find themselves learning more about one another than they thought possible.

* * *

_**Marsh Manner**_

"Well, I must admit that was quite the performance," Joshi admitted. His attention turned to his employee, who had the masked-man's foot pressing against his neck.

The man tried to speak, but only replied with the sounds of choking.

After having talked to some of the wealthy people, Marsh attempted to return home without an incident. Unfortunately, his employees were already waiting at his home, not too happy about the improvising he did.

Galvin wasn't in the Duke's private room, leaving the man to have to deal with one irritated mage.

"I mean wow, that deserved an award for sure, hell ten. Though as I recall, you had promised us a group of Fairy Tail mages, not two mages, your bodyguard, and some stupid hoodrat..."

The pressure tightened to where the Duke's face began to change colors once more.

Marsh moved his lips, gasping to try and speak some words.

"What? I can't hear you," the masked-man taunted, lifting his foot slightly to allow him some air to enter his body.

The Duke coughed and attempted to speak.

"Look! I know.. It's not ideal! Just listen..!" He stuttered, trying to push off the foot, but with little effort.

Joshi let him go, walking away from the worthless man and took his seat in his employer's chair. It was amusing to him how someone like Marsh thought he had the talent to sway anyone just with words.

"Look, it wasn't my fault," the Duke blurted out, trying to get his breathing under control. "Those damn fairies couldn't come, and you can't blame the bitch on me, she just came out of nowhere and volunteered. Look, even with all this, the plan hasn't changed, I swear!"

With Marsh's pitiful statement finished, Joshi slowly clapped at the performance. When he stopped, the masked-man got up from the chair and walked towards the door.

"You're lucky that the bitch got me irritated. Otherwise I would've burnt down this worthless crap hole of a house down to the ground."

After his employee left the room, the Duke stood up from the ground, shaking from head to toe as he staggered to the bar. After grabbing the biggest bottle there, Marsh twisted the top off and began to drink it quickly.

After a few minutes, he stopped to breath in some air, showing nearly half the bottle empty.

"Damn bastard...Thinks he can push me around..." he muttered, taking another long swig. With that second take, the alcohol started taking effect.

The entire room began to spin, disorienting him and causing him to fall down onto the ground, bottle still in hand.

All anyone could see if they entered the room was the unconscious man with the booze pouring onto the floor.

Though in the shadows of the room, a figure walked towards the man, kneeling down and grabbing the bottle.

"Pathetic...Oh well, that's the price of greed," Galvin muttered. A light revealing his body, only now, there was something different about him.

His outfit had now had on a wrapping of sorts, making it look like as if armor surrounded him. Additionally, the mask he had on now took on a demonic view, having a mouth with an evil grin, showing a row of razor sharp teeth. Reaching down to grab the bottle, his hands now showed to have the same membrane as well. It gave him sharp claws that could slice through anything.

When Galvin took hold of it, he drank the remaining liquid inside of it, forcing his now long tongue into the bottle to lick the remnants off the sides.

After finishing it, he crushed the bottle with ease and seeped back into the shadows.

* * *

_**Angela's House**_

With the fires and panic still ablaze, many private security for all the casinos saw fit to bring order to the town. Many marched down the streets, stopping the mayhem some of the citizens got themselves into. Especially those that attempted to steal in the chaos.

In the poor section of Venture Town, many people stood blocked their doors and windows. A few wondering eyes looked onto the street to find that even some of the criminals made their way to that part of the area.

Some tried to break into homes, while others begged to let them in.

It was anarchy.

Though despite the chaos, one house in particular found itself ignored. Anyone that even glanced at it felt a sense of fear, almost like it was a wild beast, waiting to strike at anyone that attempted to enter. Even some of the citizens avoided asking for help from there.

Little did anyone know, the aura came from a special magic circle created by Angela.

Her home was now a fortress with it installed.

On the inside, it wasn't exactly a five star hotel.

Much of the inside rot away with the passage of time, making it feel more like a prison than a home. The walls developed cracks, leading in different directions. Parts of the floor had what looked like a patch job of new wood and duct-tape that kept it in place.

The only source of light inside was a Lacrima light that she hung on the wall, allowing half of the room to have light.

Inside, Angela found herself looking out the window, trying to get an idea of how bad the situation was. Her houseguests, which was Rodin and Trixie, were sitting at a worn-out table with cups of water in front of them.

After the trio managed to avoid the security and the looters, they decided it was best to hide out until the chaos passed. All they could do at that point was sit back and wait on Marsh to contact them.

Though to them, the waiting was the awkward part.

"Alright, I think their gone," the black-haired mage declared, exhaling a breath of relief. She moved towards the curtains and pulled them over the windows.

After that, she turned over to the people inside with her, noticing that neither had touched their water.

"Sorry, don't exactly have a big budget, so water's all I got," she admitted.

"It's fine, we're used to going without anything fancy," Rodin replied, grabbing the cup. He moved it to his mouth and casually drank it, feeling the cool liquid parching his throat.

The last Dragon Roar spell he sent out left his mouth dusty.

Although for the feline, she didn't say anything other than turning away and ignoring the woman. Trixie couldn't trust anything about Angela, knowing that she was working some angle.

"Well that's good," the black-haired mage remarked, taking her own seat on one side of the table.

For a few minutes, the three sat in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say at all.

Even though Angela managed to help them out, it was still difficult for the duo to trust someone who once worked tried to hurt them.

All they could do was humor her and be open-minded.

Rodin sighed, looking over to her before deciding that the tension was getting annoying, and knew he needed to break it.

"Okay, I gotta be blunt," he began, "We're all still a little iffy on one another. While I do appreciate the fact you came to help us, I need to know right here and now, Why? We were once enemies, you hurt Trixie and tried to kill me, so why did you stick with us?"

That question made even Trixie look over to the woman, crossing her arms, and waiting to hear her response.

"Honestly? It's because I'm tired of feeling guilty," Angela replied, taking a deep breath before she continued. "Yes, I get it, you both hate me for what happened and I gladly accept that. Though You need to know first hand, I never wanted any of it..."

The Dragon-Slayer's glance soften when he heard that, but couldn't reply due to his partner's scoff.

"Oh please, " the feline retorted, "You're the daughter of that bastard Jose. Guy is practically your daddy, and we're suppose to believe that everything you did wasn't cuz you were trying to please him?!"

With that yell, silence swallowed up the area once more.

After a few minutes, Rodin heard what sounded like tears dropping onto the floor. He turned and saw the light from the Lacrima shine on something reflective.

The black-haired mage had tears running down the sides of her cheeks.

"I don't care if you believe me... Even if you think otherwise, I hated that bastard more than anything..."

Angela got up and headed towards a cabinet near the door. Lifting her hand upward, she grabbed something and walked back to the duo, tossing it onto the table.

Rodin and Trixie looked down to see that it was a portrait.

It consisted of a drawing of what looked like Angela when she was roughly around four years old.

Her attire at the time was that of a pink hoodie with mittens on both her hands. The hood had found itself on top of her head with two strings that had two fluffy white balls at the ends. Lastly, a white and blue scraf that decorated her neck, wrapped snugly so it wouldn't fall off while she played.

What got the duo's attention wasn't the young black-haired little girl, it was the woman behind her, smiling with a pale tone.

The other woman's outfit consisted of a light brown long-sleeved trench coat that reached down to her thighs. Around the mid-section of her body was a belt that kept it from being open, making her figure show more. Though on top of her head was a beanie, covering her baldness.

Both looked alike, which indicated that in the photo was their host and her mother.

Rodin turned back to see Angela wiping the tears from her face with a tissue.

"Who is she?" The Dragon-Slayer inquired, knowing full well who it was.

"My mother... She was sick with a deadly virus that not even magic could cure," she explained. "That bastard Jose cursed her because she broke up with him... I was the only child she could ever have..."

Trixie's expression began to soften the more she heard.

"After she was near her limit, he took me away from her, lying that he could save her if I did Everything he wanted... He lied..."

"Then is she..?" The feline inquired, getting a look of sadness that once plastered her face before.

The answer was clear.

"After Phantom got disbanded, I came back and her old boyfriend buried her and left me a note. All those people I hurt, all the pain I caused, it haunts me..."

With that statement, fresh tears began to pool together, threatening to flood her face once more.

The duo looked at one another, giving the other a look of guilt at their own declarations of her. Both knew what it was like to be alone without anyone to care for them or help them.

Rodin moved his hand and grabbed the portrait, but felt the hand of Angela cover the top of his. Both turned to the other, seeing the looks of pain on both their faces.

In a way, that single moment gave them the feeling that they found a kindred spirit that understood.

"Look, I know you guys don't want me, but please. Let me help, I couldn't save my mother but I can damn well saved this entire town from those bastards," she pleaded.

The Dragon-Slayer looked at her and sighed, knowing that even if they didn't like her, they needed her.

"Okay," he answered.

With that, Angela's sad face turned into a smile as she jumped from her seat towards Rodin. Both found themselves on the ground, her hugging him with joy.

A few seconds passed and the black-haired woman realized what she was doing.

She pushed back and looked at him face-to-face, seeing him blush bright red.

Before either could apologize, a brooding aura made them turn over to see a demonic face on Trixie. The feline wasn't the type to get angry, but that look of her's was enough to burn holes in the wall.

The pair quickly got off of each other and sat back down in their original spots.

Though now, the awkward tension was worse than before.

Luckily, a small ice-breaker came in the form of Rodin's rumbling stomach.

The two females looked with eyebrows raised, making the Dragon-Slayer chuckle nervously. That lead to him rubbing the back of his head as well.

"Guess with all the excitement and surprises that happened, we skipped lunch," he admitted with a nervous tone.

"Ugh, you and your stomach," Trixie growled, getting up from her seat to walk towards their backpacks.

Angela chuckled silently, shaking her head in amusement.

After a few minutes of looking through their bags, Trixie pulled out two lunchboxes they packed. One wrapped in a brown sheet while the other had a red one.

The feline walked over and gave the brown one to Rodin before sitting down with her's.

Both gave thanks for the meal and unwrapped it, revealing it to be bento boxes.

The smell alone from both was enough to make even a dog drool.

When they opened them, the smell came into full release, enveloping Angela in an ecstasy of smells. Her intention was clear when the sounds of growling came from the woman's stomach.

The duo looked over, making the black-haired mage blush by what she just did.

While Trixie huffed and began to eat, Rodin smiled and passed it to her.

"You can have it," he offered, giving Angela a look of surprise by his action. "Call it even for you helping me out before."

The action wasn't well-liked by another individual.

"...Idiot..." The feline muttered, scarfing down her food like it was a bowl of rice.

The woman hesitantly reached out and took the box, smelling the food calling out to her.

"What about you?" The black-haired mage inquired, feeling bad that now he didn't have any food.

Though that soon changed when Angela saw him pull out a long piece of rock.

It was a straight piece that looked like a tube and was dark-brown colored.

"I'll be fine, this should tide me over until tomorrow," he remarked before taking a bite out of the rock. His face gave a look of relief, feeling the food start to fill him up the more he ate.

After seeing the kindness that Rodin did for her, Angela couldn't help but start to cry, feeling an honest smile plaster her face.

It felt like years since she last smiled. In all honesty, the black-haired mage was afraid that she forgot how to.

The trio now found themselves eating their meal, stopping occasionally to talk about any random thing.

Hours passed with them learning more and more about one another, most of the time it was Rodin and Angela doing the talking.

It left Trixie alone to glare at them both.

Deciding to brood, the feline drank some watermelon wine she secretly bought. The bottle was to be their celebratory drink. Though now, she decided to drink it and forget her troubles.

By nightfall, she found herself snoring, hugging the bottle tightly like it was her best friend.

After having moved her into a make-shift bed he made from his blanket and her's, the Dragon-Slayer decided to meditate for a bit.

He found a quiet spot and sat in his normal position, leaving Angela to leave the room and head towards her bath to freshen up.

After a few minutes, Rodin gave up on trying to meditate.

Since he learned about the history Angela had, a part of him couldn't help but see himself in her.

Both of them had issues with their fathers, both lost their mothers. The only difference between them was that the Dragon-Slayer found a partner.

She didn't have anyone.

His train of thought stopped when Rodin heard knocking at the door. He turned his attention there and saw someone slip a white folded piece of paper under the door.

He slammed down to get an image of who the person was with Stone-Sensing, but found that the stranger already left.

Standing up from his seat, the Dragon-Slayer walked over and picked up the paper, opening it to see what it said:

* * *

_**Galvin told me about the girl's home and I needed to get this to you. Tomorrow night, head to a casino that says the Lucky Paw, tell them you're there for the strippers and whisky.**_

_**Be there by 8:00 exactly.**_

_**Marsh**_

* * *

Rodin's eyes widen by the unusual choice of words that the Duke picked.

While he focused on the letter, Angela made her way out of the bath, feeling relaxed and clean.

Her attire now was two towels: one covering her hair in a spiral to dry. The other was longer and covered her nude body, though her cleavage still found it's way out into the open.

Additionally, small droplets of water still found themselves on her shoulder and chest. With each step she took, it began to build up into a pool in the center of her cleavage.

Unaware that she was behind her, Rodin turned around and walked, eyes still glued to the paper.

Good and bad luck followed with that collision.

When they both bumped into each other, Rodin found himself losing his footing. It resulted in him falling face first at the black-haired mage. After that, it knocked down Angela and made her disoriented after she fell flat on her back.

A few seconds passed before she finally got her vision back.

That soon turned into something that she wished didn't come back.

Looking down at her chest, Angela saw two eyes staring right at her, which followed by what looked like a nose deep inside her cleavage.

It took only moments to realize that it was Rodin.

What's worse, she felt a draft and realized that he was on top of her, which caused her towel to loosen up.

Her face blushed bright red, causing her to open her mouth and letting out a piercing scream. The echo reverberated throughout the neighborhood, followed by a loud smack that came after.

The sound soon died down, leaving only the faint echoes of yelling still coming from the casino walkway.

Nobody in Venture Town had any idea what tomorrow was going to bring, and little did they know. It would be the deciding future of their own city.

* * *

_**Next Day**_

_**Evening**_

_**Lucky Paw**_

"Are we sure this is it?" Angela inquired, looking back at the piece of white paper she held in her hand.

"Beats me," Trixie replied, turning her head to look over at her partner, who looked like he had seen better days.

In front of them stood one of the biggest casino's ever built on the walkway. Standing at seven stories tall and wide, having a unique curve of the building that made it look like a semi-opened book. The light Lacrima sign was that of a star, flashing in a pattern that repeated itself, giving the illusion of it sparkling. With the night sky, the light from the building even dwarfed the many stars in the sky.

After the incident that happened the day before, Rodin felt pain in places he never thought possible. Some that actually caused him to black out.

He had on his regular attire, but now had many wrappings around her face and a bandage over one of his eyes.

The Dragon-Slayer couldn't help but feel like people were mocking him.

His feline partner secretly smiled with satisfaction, feeling smug by the pain he was going through.

"Lucky Paw, this is the place," Rodin struggled, speaking in a wheezing tone.

The black-haired woman looked back in guilt. She knew that he didn't intentionally mean for anything to happen.

All that she could do was make up for it later after everything was over.

The trio looked at the clock at the entrance, seeing that it was nearing eight.

There wasn't much time left for them.

At the entrance, a security guard stopped them and looked at a list in his hand.

"Name?" he inquired with a serious tone.

Before Angela could answer, she heard someone snapping their fingers, looking over to see Rodin. He pointed at the envelope.

Her face soon got red when the black-haired mage realized what he was trying to tell her.

"Well go on, tell the man girlie," Trixie teased with amusement.

Her fist tightened in irritation, knowing that this was karma coming to collect.

All she could do was take a deep breath and say what the phrase.

"Actually...We're here for the..Strippers and the..whisky.."

The duo behind her tried desperately not laugh, especially Rodin since his neck still hurt.

All the covering in the world couldn't hide Angela's blushing.

"I see... Well let me get someone to escort you to the champagne room," the security guard replied.

After his statement, the man grabbed a minature Lacrima and channeled some magic into it.

When three minutes passed, the entrance behind him opened to show two woman coming towards the trio.

Their look left quite an impression.

Both of them wore near-revealing outfits. It consisted of matching red bikini tops that only covered the intimate part of their breasts. The bottoms were only held by strings, covering the intimate part of their lower half. Though it left their backs with a view that made most men drop to their knees.

"I'm Moon," the blond-haired one announced.

"Call me sun," the brown-haired one added.

"They'll take you where you need to go," the security guard commented, moving to the side.

With him out of the way, the two ladies went past Angela and Trixie, going towards Rodin and looking over his wounds.

"Oh my, these are some serious injuries," Moon commented, casually pressing her boobs against his left arm.

"Yeah, but don't worry, we always treat our customers well...Really well," she added. On the last part of the sentence, she whispering in a seductive tone.

Rodin's face literally was brighter than a tomato.

All he could do was get pulled by the two woman, ignoring the dark aura that surrounded both of his companions.

"Sluts.." Both muttered in an venomous tone, following their comrade.

* * *

_**Inside**_

Passing the sliding doors, the small group entered into the building.

The minute they entered, it was almost like they were in other dimension.

All they could see was flashing lights and a brightening atmosphere, almost like it was a cave of crystals inside. The design of the casino matched with the aura of it's people. A sophisticated and wealthy place where people came to spend their cash like it was water.

Trixie's brooding turned darker when she saw all the corrupt and cocky rich acting high and mighty. To her, this was like a cesspool of gluttony she didn't want to be a part of.

For Angela though, her expression was one of wonder, like she was a kid at an amusement park. All she ever knew was the horrid darkness of her father's guild and the simple conditions with her mother.

This was an experience like no other.

While the two ladies were in their own little world, Rodin found himself trying not to move around too much. The scenery around him didn't compare to the views he had on both his arms.

"Come on, it's just this way," Moon commented before pulling Rodin with Sun's help.

The statement caused the two girls to snap out of their thinking and keep up with the Dragon-Slayer.

Their path took them passed many different games and people that gave them odd looks. Some from the men, others from woman, but all were the same.

Why are there peasants here?

Rodin started to get annoyed by the glances he got, wanting to leave this place and it's rules. Though he knew that they couldn't and ignored them.

Soon after a good amount of walking, the group reached a wall in one of the empty game rooms. Upon entering it, both Sun and Moon immediately removed themselves from Rodin.

The seductive look they gave got replaced by one of seriousness.

Trixie and Angela were about to get ready to fight, but quickly felt two guns pressed against their heads.

"Who sent you?" Moon inquired before her body glowered brightly. When it stopped, she and Sun now wore skin-tight black leotards with built-in armor around them.

The girls wanted to kick their teeth in, but felt a click come from both of the guns, making them tense up and not say anything.

"We won't ask again, Who...Sent...You?" Sun repeated, only this time it was much more menacingly.

"Marsh...Duke Marsh.." The Dragon-Slayer coughed out, feeling his neck had started to heal a bit more and could speak normally.

Silence engulfed the room and built the tension back up.

The two woman nodded, causing the other people with the guns to drop them and walk back, closing the door behind them.

Before anyone could say anything, a hidden doorway slid to the left, revealing Galvin in his outfit. After walking into the room, the trio saw Marsh follow.

"Duke? What the hell is going on?!" Rodin shouted, but stopped when it put a strain on his throat.

"What the hell is up with these sluts and that damn code?!" Trixie added.

"I apologize for the deception," the Duke began, motioning Sun and Moon to leave the room.

Both bowed in respect and headed towards the door that the pair just came in.

"So what exactly is this place?" Angela inquired, trying to get an understanding of what was going on.

"The long story would take too much time, the short? This is where the fate of Venture Town lies in all your hands."

The four people looked at one another before looking back to Marsh. Little did they know, everything was part of a bigger plan that their comrade orchestrated, and if they didn't stop him.

Everyone would lose.

* * *

_**Gotta love that pressure don't you? Thanks everyone for sticking around and continuing to read this story, means a lot to me. I will hopefully go back to continuing this story by the week after next. This will also give new readers a chance to catch up and experience the story of Rodin and Fairy Tail. Thank you all for reading and I will see you next time on Chapter 19: Galvin vs Vira.**_


	19. Tournament Gamble: Part III

_**Chapter 19**_

_**Tournament Gamble**_

_**Part III**_

_**Beginning Battle: Galvin vs Vira**_

_**Hello everyone and thank you all for waiting patiently, I've finally returned home from the funeral of my Grandmother and I am raring to get back into it. Starting now will be the fights going on between the two teams, which means I will only be pausing in between for stuff that connects to it. When the fighting ends, so will the arc. Please enjoy and review.**_

* * *

_**Lucky Paw**_

**_Underground_**

All anyone could see in the area was nothing but pitch black darkness, being lit only by the soft light of torches. The ambiance of the path was foreboding, almost secretive, as if someone was trying to scare people off.

For the average person, most would've left by now.

Though in that path, echoes of footsteps bounced off the walls.

Five figures walked passed some of the torches, lead by a man carrying one to allow them to see without worry. The head of the pack was **Duke Marsh**.

When the light reached behind him, most of the silhouettes behind him were now revealed.

The group consisted of **Rodin**, **Trixie**, **Galvin**, and **Angela**. Each one keeping on their toes with the darkness that could swallow them.

After a few more minutes of walking in silence, Rodin decided to break the tension.

"So Duke...How exactly did you know about this place?" The Dragon-Slayer inquired.

There was confusion amongst the group, mostly between Rodin, Trixie, and Angela. How someone of Marsh's kindness could know about these places.

Though unbeknownst to them, Galvin knew everything that was going on, and kept it to himself.

"Like many, even I have secrets young mage," Marsh lied, giving what felt like a disdainful tone. "I'm ashamed to admit that the secrets behind Marsh Manner involve these sorts of places. Something I've tried to erase."

"I can bet," Trixie added to the conversation, "Who wouldn't want this gone from their legacy?"

"Exactly."

Angela tightened her fist in silent rage, remembering her connection between her and her father. Some part of her would wish that she could erase his blood from her body, even if it meant dying.

"In any case, thanks to a few contacts, I've managed to keep this out of the public eye," the Duke added. "This way, we won't need to worry about civilians getting caught."

With that statement, most of the group muttered in agreement.

Though all were unaware of the devilish smile Duke Marsh slowly gained on his face.

"_Plus, it'll be more money in my pocket and easier to blame them when I blow this casino.._" the man thought to himself.

Nobody could feel the dark aura that surrounded the Duke by that point.

Finally, after walking in the darkness for a good ten minutes. The group arrived at what looked like heavy-decorated doors.

Both had red and gold designs from the wood to the frames and metal pieces. Even the knobs and nails that held it together were gold.

"I must take my leave and head towards the viewing room, simply past through there and you'll find yourself in the arena. Do your best, I am depending on you four to succeed."

With that last statement, Marsh bowed in respect before walking away towards another area.

He opened the door there and walked in with the torch in hand.

The remaining group turned their attention back to the door that was in front of them.

Despite their determined looks, most of them had a strong sense of nervousness. Mostly due to a human's natural fear of the unknown, especially not knowing what awaited them.

Rodin took in a deep breath, exhaling out slowly to calm himself. When he finished, both of his arms moved to the knobs, feeling the cold metal connect with his skin. It felt like someone freezed it with **Ice-Magic**.

Though it didn't bother him too much.

With one strong pull, light quickly flooded their vision. In seconds, their eyes soon became blinded by the light due to getting used to the darkness from before.

After allowing the light to slowly pass, they began to open their eyes.

What they saw put a look of shock on most of their faces.

* * *

_**Underground**_

_**Arena**_

Standing before them was a sea of audience members sitting in a circular pattern on what looked like balconies. Each one having a wealthy-looking person sipping their drinks or laughing. The area was almost like a theater, but it's design looked more like a Colosseum. In the middle of the large area was nothing but ground, no signs of any kind of ring or battlefield, just one large flat ground.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" An announcer yelled out via Lacrima speakers placed in key-locations for better listening. "Tonight's main event is about to begin!"

Right after the statement, the lights in the area dimmed down before he continued to talk.

"Hailing from the land of **Fiore** and under the banner of **Fairy Tail** guild, say hello to **Team Dragon-Slayer!**"

A mix of booing and cheering reverberated through the area as a spotlight flashed on. The moving glow found it's way right over the group, making them look around in surprise.

"Think they meant us?" Trixie implied in a sarcastic tone.

"Not funny," Galvin remarked in annoyance.

"Even so, who's bright idea was to name us Dragon-Slayer," Angela added, causing the others to look at Rodin.

He ignored their glares.

Not knowing what else to do, the group started walking forward as two guards soon came towards them. While they walked, both of them followed side-to-side.

After reaching the end of the path, one guard motioned them to follow him.

He soon lead them to what looked like a team rest-spot in front of the arena.

All they could do was go in and look forward, waiting to see what was gonna happen.

In the middle of the large area was nothing but ground, no signs of any kind of ring or battlefield, just one large flat ground.

After a few seconds to allow the crowd time to settle down, the announcer continued his speech.

"Next up, the opponents, from the guild of the Wild Breakers, put your hands together for Team Wrecker!"

With that speech, everyone cheered for them as the same action with the Fairy Tail group happened with them.

Coming out of the path was Joshi, leading three others who had on hooded cloaks to conceal their identity. Each one had a specific color of red, blue, and green.

Like their opponents, the team was lead to their team rest-spot.

Rodin had a bad feeling about this, but didn't have time to think about it as Marsh made his entrance.

The man walked with what looked like a cordless microphone. He went directly into the middle of the field, tapping on the mic to settle down the crowd.

When it finally got quiet, he began to speak.

"Tonight is a special event planned for our illustrious guests! On this night of debauchery, we present a tournament of all ages! And to add excitement, all will be a betting game for many to enjoy. Lastly, the conditions of these fights are as followed. Only one-on-one matches with no interference. The fights will be until someone loses, and no one can substitute for any match. Winners will gain respect and fame, losers will leave forever and never return!"

With that introduction and rule listing, everyone cheered with gusto. Many were money-hungry and wanting the fights to start for the bets.

Marsh took his leave and went back to his special suite, giving an evil grin with what he just did.

"Let's see if those fairy fools can even survive," he thought sadistically.

With the man gone, the announcer took his place.

"Alrighty! Now, to begin, everyone give your attention to the screen!"

Everyone, including both teams looked over towards a wall on top of the arena. It was pitch-black at first, but suddenly, light shined from it, revealing a screen with the pictures of both teams.

"How the hell did they get our pictures?!" Trixie yelled out, enraged that Marsh wouldn't tell them about all this.

"Doesn't matter, they're there so just deal with it," Galvin retorted.

The feline was about to give the bodyguard a piece of her mind, but stopped when the sounds of shuffling echoed.

Her attention fell back towards the screen.

On it, the pictures were now in moving order, passing one another. After a few seconds, they stopped and soon revealed who would be facing who.

The match-ups were Galvin vs red-cloak in the first round. Angela vs blue-cloak in the second, Trixie vs green-cloak in the third. Leaving Rodin vs Joshi as the final match-up.

Audience members roared out in cheer, many of them pressing a special display, courtesy of an Archive Mage. When everyone finished making their bets, the announcer spoke once more.

"Now, let's get this first match going! Galvin vs red-cloak! Make your way to the arena and rumble!"

With that remark, Galvin cracked his knuckles and moved passed his allies. Though before he could go, the Dragon-Slayer grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

The bodyguard turned to look Rodin in the eyes.

"Look, whether you're reasons are personal or a sense of duty. I just wanna say thanks for helping us, I appreciate it," he admitted.

That single remark gave Galvin a look of surprise, though his teammate couldn't tell due to the mask. All he could do was nod and continue his way towards the arena.

When he arrived, the lights flicked back on that area and gave everyone the chance to see the fight. In front of him, the red-cloaked person arrived and stopped right in front of him.

An arm poked out to grab one of the sides, pulling it and throwing it upward.

What everyone saw gave many of the men in the audience an explosive nosebleed.

The person under the cloak was a female woman, a year younger than Galvin, giving a smile towards him in a flirtatious manner.

The woman's appearance was a fair-skinned black-haired girl, reaching passed her shoulders. She wore quite a bit of make-up on. She wore a small bit of lipstick and eyeliner, giving her an almost distinguished appearance. She shows to have on a small circular tiara with a red-star in the middle, while also wearing a black choker around her neck.

Her attire consisted of a short-black leather jacket. Opened down the middle and reaching near the lower-part of her stomach. The sleeves rolled up slightly, almost reaching her elbows. Under the jacket is a special fusion of cloth and armor fashioned to look like a breast-chest place. Gold at the top around her chest and red bellow it, looking like a normal piece of clothing. On both her arms, a matching pair of metal wristband/gauntlets were on. Each finger had a gold circle around them when she entered her finger through it.

The bottom half of her consisted of a similar design to her chest piece, but instead focuses it with skin-tight leggings. It gave great definition to her legs and thighs, along. The colors were black and gold, with the gold being around her waist, while the rest of it was black.

Lastly, she showed to have what look like a gold silk lasso hanging on her hip, allowing her easy access whenever she needed it. The shoes on her feet were that of most common female mages combat heels, making it look like it is part of the leggings.

Galvin couldn't help but open his mouth in awe, being glad that his mask managed to cover his shame. A few seconds of staring later, he shook his head to get a hold of himself.

"Good to see you're alive, thought you passed out standing for a second," the woman mocked. She stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles, giving him a cocky grin.

"Name's **Vira**, what do I call you?"

"Galvin," the bodyguard replied, but soon regretted it.

Right when he answered, a fist connected right into his stomach, making him cough out air. Before getting a chance to get ready, a second attack hit his cheek. This time, sending him skidding backwards a good few feet.

The man couldn't help but fall down to his knees, coughing and trying to regain his breath.

Everyone in the crowd roared with cheer and laughter at what occurred.

"...Damn.." Galvin spluttered out, getting back on his feet and glaring at her.

"Sorry, figured you were too busy looking at my boobs to actually fight, but you've got heart. Most men would have passed out by my punches," she admitted.

"Well...I'm not like most guys," he assured her, finally gaining his breathing back and standing up. At that point, Galvin knew that he couldn't let down his guard once more.

The real fight was about to begin for both of them.

When the silence surrounded the two of them, they knew it was time for their onslaught to begin.

Galvin's quick draw of his twin-modded machine guns allowed him to fire quickly. A swarm of bullets flew forward in an attempt to hit the woman.

Her response made many look in awe.

As if they were in slow-motion, Vira easily blocked them all with her gauntlets. Each movement was too fast for any to process, all anyone could see was blurs of hand movement.

When Galvin stopped firing and the smoke cleared, surprise plastered his face. He saw that not a single one landed a hit. Instead, all the bullets found themselves on the floor.

His attention now turned to his enemy, who crossed her arms and held them up. What surprised everyone was the intense heat radiating from the gauntlets after the barrage, almost like something hit them multiple times.

She brought them down and smiled at Galvin, getting ready for her own counter.

"Alright that was good. Now let's see how you handle this!"

With one swipe of her hand, the silk rope on her hip uncoiled and reached the floor. She lifted it up with ease and mimicked a whipping motion, making it go forward at a fast speed.

The bodyguard had to act fast.

Galvin's reflexes managed to allow him the chance to dodge, quickly rolling to the left to escape the attack. Though he wasn't out of the woods yet.

She kept it going by pulling it back and easily thrusting it forward repeatedly. A few times, her attacks were almost close enough to reach her opponent, but still missed by a few seconds.

While they continued that, Galvin's teammates couldn't help but look on with shock.

Especially Trixie.

"Geez, she may dress like a slut, but damned if there isn't talent behind her attacks," the feline admitted.

"I don't sense any magic energy emanating though, she's not taking this seriously," Angela added. Her time with Phantom allowed her to tell whether someone wasn't giving it their all.

In her opinion, Vira looked like she was just playing with her prey.

The two girls looked at Rodin, who didn't say anything as his attention stayed on the fight. Whether she used magic or not didn't matter to him, all he wanted was for Galvin to keep on his toes.

His look soon broke when the sound of a connecting crack echoed through the area. It made most of the audience cringe in pain as they saw that the bodyguard got hit right in the face.

Galvin now found himself standing down on one-knee, looking away from Vira. The attack hit his lower-back, causing a rip in his outfit and bleeding to start from the wound she gave him.

"Mmmm. There's nothing I love more than to hear that beautiful sound," the black-haired woman admitted with a seductive tone.

It made some of the males whistle out and cheer her on.

Vira couldn't help but turn to her fans, waving at them and blowing them a kiss.

Her overconfidence got the best of her.

"**Scatter Burst!**"

Vira's fans soon gasped by what occurred.

The woman felt a powerful blast hit her back, dealing causing her to drop down to her own knees. Turning her head around, she saw that Galvin's gun changed from a machine gun to a grenade launcher.

He held it with both hands, indicating it was quite the heavy weapon.

"Now we're on equal terms, again," he stated with confidence.

That single shot started turning the atmosphere's focus right on the bodyguard. His opponent couldn't help but actually smile at what he did.

She got up from the ground and turned to face him.

"Dirty, aren't we? Hitting me when I've lowered my defenses," Vira scolded him.

"Figured I owed you for those first two punches you pulled."

"Then let me give you something special."

Right when she said that, her entire body started glowing with a crimson aura. The energy it emitted sent out a powerful shock-wave, causing more than half the crowd to put up their arms to brace for it.

The force behind it was like a cyclone of wind, spinning at such speeds that it could knock a person down immediately.

Gavin did the same, but as he mimicked everyone, the man failed to notice that she already got him wrapped with her lasso. Before he could feel it, Vira gave a hard pull, literally swinging her opponent right into the wall.

The collision broke it to pieces, leaving him trapped under rubble.

Though her attack wasn't done yet.

Making her arms glow with the crimson aura, she was able to pull up upward, reaching a high distance in mid-air. Seconds later, the woman pulled down hard and slammed the bodyguard hard against the ground.

Much of the audience groaned when they heard the crack of the floor itself from the impact.

Team Fairy Tail looked with widened eyes, shocked by what they saw and unable to understand what Vira did.

The smoke started to clear, revealing Galvin lying down right in the middle of a small crater as a result of the impact.

He coughed out a bit of blood that leaked from his mask.

His opponent found herself loosening the lasso, pulling it back to her, and putting it back on her hip.

"So, you gonna pay me back?" She mocked, cracking her neck and awaiting to see what he had to say.

Some of the audience members laughed at the bodyguard's situation, enjoying the anguish that was in front of them.

"I wouldn't celebrate too soon," Rodin's voice stated, making them stop and turn their attention to the team spot.

Boos came from the crowd.

Before Vira could retort, a blur came right in front of her, swinging what looked like a combat knife.

Her reflexes allowed her to block the attack with one of the gauntlets, but the second strike landed a wound on her unprotected skin.

Blood dripped down as she jumped back, seeing that Galvin was back on his feet, but looked different than before.

The white markings on his body turned red, giving him a different appearance around his chest and eyes.

"That magic... **Amplifier** right?" The bodyguard inquired, making Vira glare at him.

"How'd you figure it out?"

"Simple. I could feel it right when you slammed me down, you're swing got stronger before I got sent down."

The woman couldn't help but chuckle, amused by how he managed to figure out her secret. It had been some time since anyone got Vira's interest, especially in the battle field.

Though her euphoric attitude disappeared when she dodged yet another strike from Galvin. The more he attempted to land a hit, the more she started getting goosebumps.

After the last slash, the bodyguard quick drew a hidden pistol from a holster on his back, aiming and releasing.

"**Air Bullet!**"

The compressed shots combined with a gun's release sent out nearly four shots of spells right at her stomach.

Each one exploded with a gust of wind when they made contact.

The force was enough to push her back, skidding along the ground before she slammed against the wall.

She coughed out, feeling like someone had just delivered a barrage of punches at close range.

It even caused a bit of blood to emerge from the side of her lips.

"We keep up this 'Owing' favors business and it'll never end," the bodyguard inquired.

He put the pistol back in it's holster along with the combat knife.

Everyone sat in a silent hush, looking towards where the woman was at. She didn't fall after the impact, all Vira did was simply slouch slightly and hide her eyes in shadow.

"**Power-up - Speed."**

With that one phrase, her legs started glowing with the crimson aura she had on before. The force started to break the ground the feet were on.

In an instant, she disappeared from Galvin's sight.

He turned in all different directions, trying to sense or even see where she would come from.

It didn't help.

Within seconds, the bodyguard felt an attack come out of nowhere, knocking him down to the ground. He jumped back up to get back on his feet, only to have another punch connect.

That time, he didn't fall so easily.

The attacks came one after the other, making it look like Galvin was faking getting hit by everyone around him. Some even began to laugh at his misfortune.

Rodin, on the other hand, knew what was going on as he kept track of the battle with his Stone-Sensing. Despite how it looked, Vira was the one doing all the damage to Galvin.

Her spell allowed her movements to double their speed to a point where even others could only see her as blurs.

''_This is bad...The longer he keeps taking those hits, the more damage to his body,_" the Dragon-Slayer thought.

His attention snapped back to the battle when he saw Galvin get sent flying right into another wall.

With that, Vira finally stopped her onslaught and kept still, allowing everyone to see her now.

The bodyguard breath heavily, feeling the effect of the barrage that he took. Even though he trained to withstand incredible attacks, his opponent's delivered some damage.

"Come on you bastard! Get up and shoot that damn skank!" Trixie bellowed, shaking her paw in rage.

"Like that'll do any good," Angela argued, making the feline look over with irritation. "The woman's moving faster than anyone can see. Even if he could get a clear shot, no way he'd have enough time to pull the trigger."

"Well he's gotta try something, otherwise we're losing this match!"

Both girls kept barking at each other with remarks and comments, leaving Rodin to keep the faith and hope for the best.

* * *

_**Private Box**_

In one of the more luxurious spots in the arena, some of the more wealthy attendance were enjoying the entertainment in the room. All anyone could see was the incredible decoration that was around them. The red-velvet and jewel-encrusted walls gave the classy feel. Combined with the antique bar and comfy black-leather couches made many feel superior.

Everyone there was drunk out of their minds, half-dressed and laughing without any care in the world. A couple of strippers found their way into the mix, enjoying the free drinks and tips they offered.

For some, it was the worst form of greed anyone could experience.

While many were enjoying themselves, Duke Marsh's attention was only on the match he viewed from the Lacrima display on the screen in front of him. To him, this was more important than a few call girls and

One of them looked over and sat next to the empty seat.

"Come now Marsh, why do you insist on watching this display? Come, enjoy some real entertainment, " the man offered.

"I've had much more better woman than these. Besides, did you see the payload? I'll make a killing on this," the Duke replied.

"This is chump change, you've got three times that. Why so desperate for money?"

"Let's just say...I'm expecting quite a large sum should Team Fairy Tail lose."

With that last statement, the man simply scoffed before he went back to sit with a stripper on his lap.

"_Feeble-minded fools. Enjoy your worthless pleasures, soon I'll be helping myself to everything you own,_" he thought in his mind.

His train of thought soon broke when Marsh started to see Galvin's magic energy spiking. It started emerging from his body, causing the Duke to look on with widen eyes. In the time the bodyguard worked with him, the Duke never saw what he was witnessing right that very second.

* * *

_**Arena**_

Right in the middle of the battlefield, all eyes were on the bodyguard. Who's aura started to grow larger with the seconds that passed. No one could tell what was going on, not even Vira.

Though now, things would start turning complicated.

"I'm glad," Galvin whispered, starting to feel his true magic begin to emerge. "You have no idea how many years it's been since I've finally felt pain... Boy, it actually feels good."

Vira was about to laugh, but held her tongue when she saw some kind of liquid suddenly stretch outward. Within seconds, it began to wrap around him, growing more in size, slowly solidifying into physical body parts.

A few seconds later, his entire appearance now changed.

The bodyguard went from a man of average height to a hulking being that stood nearly eight feet.

His appearance consisted of a similar design to his first attire, only this time, it grew to where it was like his own body. The suit he wore now looked more like a giant body suit, having the same color scheme, only now with new patches of white. Two shown on the palm of his hands, which now bear claws that could cut through solid steel.

Additionally, the mask he had now transformed from being a simple one to what now looked like a giant knight mask.

Vira whistled at the sight, starting to feel a bit sweaty with lust for the warrior in front of her.

"**Membrane Magic**. Something no one's ever seen, but now, you're the first. I make do what I want, give me powerful armor or even, more strength."

Before she could answer, he swung down his fist, slamming it hard into the ground. In seconds, the entire arena started shaking like crazy.

Even the two teams had to try and keep themselves from falling in their safe zones.

By that point, there would be no more words between them, only a brawl.

Both stood at the ready, feeling the pressure of their magical energies colliding with one another. Even the audience couldn't help but be silent by the pressure.

It was almost like a battle between gods would soon pass.

One single breath from everyone caused the two to dash right towards each.

"Power-up: Attack!"

Vira's arm burned brightly with crimson energy as she pulled it back and released.

It collided with Galvin's huge fist, creating a powerful shock-wave once again. Though their attack didn't end there. With his right hand occupied, the man swung his left diagonally to land a powerful hit.

He sent her tumbling to the ground, but kept the pace going and jumped upward. Bringing both his hands together, the bodyguard attempted to slam down right on top of her.

Seeing the attack while rolling, Vira quickly found herself getting back to her feet and cloaking both her arms now.

The attack her opponent did now got blocked by both of the woman's arms.

There was enough force to push her downward, cracking the floor itself.

Both were now at a stand-still, neither one trying to move or else risk getting hit by another attack.

Luckily for Galvin, his magic worked in more ways than one.

Mentally manipulating his suit, two tentacle-like appendages grew out of his sides. Both pulled back and shot straight towards Vira.

One knocked her back, the other slammed her to the ground.

Though the woman's will didn't falter even after that.

Using the lasso, she managed to swing it right onto the bodyguard's neck. Pulling down, her opponent attempted to get it off of him, indicating that his oxygen was getting cut off. This also caused the tentacles to retract, allowing her to make the next move.

Vira got back on her feet and jumped, landing on the back of Galvin's body. His struggling allowed her to pull the lasso, making it look like she was trying to ride him like a horse.

Pulling back her fist, she knew that it would be the only chance to take him down.

"**Power-up: Attack x2!**"

This time, the glow of her magic was much more intense than the first time.

The attack landed right at the back of his neck.

A powerful explosion from the attack emerged, blinding everyone in the audience and the teams.

Within the blinding aura, Galvin could feel himself starting to lose consciousness. The attack dealt a serious blow, even going as far as breaking through the solid suit.

He knew by that point, it would be too late to contain it.

Vira was about to finish the man off, but found herself feeling the suit start to inch it's way up her arm, draining the aura itself. Within seconds, her power-up spell disappeared.

"What.. What the hell is-"

The liquid from the suit stretched to cover her mouth, slowly starting to sink her into the suit. With her struggling to escape the grip, it acted like quick-sand. What happened next made her more desperate than ever.

His head started to morph, gaining white-markings until what looked like a demon face came out, roaring like a banshee.

For Vira, evil now had a true face.

"Power-up: Speed x2!"

Her muffled speech allowed the spell to activate, making her legs now glow in the same manner as her arms. Moving with all her might, the creature roared out in pain, feeling the incredible heat that she emanated.

It finally let her go and stumbled forward, landing on it's knees.

The woman pushed away from the giant fast as she could, sweating bullets after seeing the horror of the demon.

In all the time she spent in the Wild Breakers, nothing she came to was as scary as the demon.

It shook it's head and turned around, roaring out in rage and was about to get ready for the attack.

Though in some ironic way, a miracle for the bad came.

Out of nowhere, the giant started shaking out in pain, grabbing it's head and bellowing out in anguish. By that time, Galvin's entire suit started breaking down.

The stability caused it to become liquid, dropping off and shrinking until it finally slide right off of Galvin. All anyone could see was a blond-haired man on his knees, looking up with his mouth wide open and his eyes white as a ghost.

All that his body could do was drop to the floor, in the puddle of black liquid.

Silence soon engulfed the area, eventually leading to the sounds of the mic turned on.

"It's over folks! The winner of the first battle is Vira from Wild Breakers!" The announcer declared with joy in his voice.

With that single announcement, everyone broke into a roar of laughter and cheers. Some found themselves groaning by the lost of their bets.

Joshi smirked under his mask when he heard the news, enjoying the first step his team was taking to finalizing their job and the mountain of wealth they'd steal. His attention drew to Vira, who looked as if someone sucked out her soul.

She muttered to herself about how the devil was real, leaving her mentally broken by the battle.

"Pathetic," the leader spat out before he waved for one of them to come and take her away.

Despite the crowd still cheering, the group of Fairy Tail weren't looking for acceptance by them. Their main focus was on making sure the man that fought for them was alive.

The three arrived, clearing away the gunk that was stuck to the unconscious man's body. After a grueling few seconds, Galvin was now free of whatever substance was on him.

"Galvin!" The Dragon-Slayer yelled out, turning him on his back and allowing him to breath. All he got was a slight groan, which at least indicated he was alive.

"Damn that bitch..." Trixie muttered, turning her attention to the woman. Despite how white she looked, the feline couldn't care less and wanted to claw her face out.

"She'll get what she deserves later, right now, Galvin needs treatment!" Angela yelled out, snapping the two back into reality.

Nodding, the duo helped their comrade up and quickly took him out of the puddle and towards the exit.

In the booth, Marsh smirked at the events that took place, feeling like soon, nothing would be able to stop him. All he needed was one more win and soon, he'd become the newest Emperor in the entire **Fiore Kingdom**. The man knew now that he needed to put on a show.

Leaving his fellows, the Duke walked out and casually strolled to where the team was heading to, giggling with joy by how easy it was to fool everyone. Though unknown to him, it would be the start of his mental breaking.

* * *

**_Thank you all for waiting so patiently, just want to say I will be working on it regularly now and that I may not be revealing where the references are from as much. If anyone wants to know, please send me a pm and I can personally tell you myself._**

**_Some of the references are from different places: Galvin's hulking form is referenced to his Space Warrior Mode after joining Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a mix of normal monster venom and his Agent Venom outfit. Amplifier is a magic from Fairy Tail Fanon, which my good friend Damon, has allowed me to use. Membrane Magic is my own creation, which takes the idea of the symbiotes from Marvel and turns them into something dangerous. Last but not least, Vira's appearance was based on a picture of the new 52 Wonder-Woman. _**

**_Thank you all for reading and I will see you on Chapter 19: Helm of Knowledge - Part I._**


	20. Tournament Gamble: Part IV

_**Chapter 20**_

_**Tournament Gamble**_

_**Part IV**_

_**Helm of Knowledge  
**_

_**Part I**_

* * *

_**Medical Room**_

"There," a doctor declared, closing up his bag full of medical supplies. In front of him, his patient, Galvin, was lying down and resting with full-body wrappings. The only thing that wasn't wrapped was his face. It made him almost look like a half-wrapped mummy that was about to enter it's tomb for the eternal sleep.

After Rodin and the others left the arena with their teammate in tow, they looked everywhere to try and find a medical facility. Nothing was available at the time, leaving them with not a lot of options.

Luckily, a miracle made their way to them.

Marsh, who knew that he needed everyone to be in one piece for their trial, hired a doctor for them.

With a little convincing, they managed to find a sterile room with a couple of beds for the group if they would lose.

"Alright, I've managed to stabilize him and get him started on some pain-killers. He'll live for now, but it'll be one big headache when he wakes up."

The Doctor's attention was on Marsh, who found himself looking over his bodyguard. In his mind, all he could do was think how funny the look on Galvin's face would be after he gets arrested.

Rodin walked over to the other side of the bodyguard, looking directly at the Duke.

"Duke."

The Dragon-Slayer grabbed his employer's attention, seeing a look of false-sadness.

"I know it's a bit of a situation, but we're not gonna give up," he remarked with confidence. "We've still got three more fights to go, we can still do this!"

"Poor misguided fool," Marsh thought to himself, but shook his head and continued his deception.

"I agree. We do have a chance," he lied with a smile.

While the two males were talking, the two girls sitting at one of the tables looked on. Angela found herself chuckling by how the two were acting. Despite her only reason for doing this being to repay a dept, she couldn't help but feel the same way.

It was the first time in years that she ever felt like wanting to smile.

The feline next to her didn't look too happy.

Trixie couldn't help but feel something off about Duke Marsh since they reunited with him. Call it a hunch or her animal instinct, but he was up to no good. Though she knew that it would be insane to declare it, at least not without proof.

Her train of thought got interrupted by the announcer's voice.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, the small intermission is now over, return to your seats."

Duke looked towards the group and cleared his throat.

"You three better get back out there, second battle's about to start," he remarked.

Rodin and Angela nodded, walking towards the door with their feline teammate going with them.

The two picked up the pace to head back towards their rest area. Except for Trixie, who hid in the shadows and looked at the door.

A few seconds afterwords, she saw her employer walk out and walk in the opposite direction.

"Alright, let's see what you're really hiding," she muttered to herself. The feline followed behind the man, doing her best to be stealthy.

One way or another, she'd find out what was really going on.

* * *

_**Arena**_

With the small intermission now ending, many of the audience members returned to their seats. The Archive Display once again showed up to the gambling section of the crowd.

With a few select pressing on the display, the bet for the next match was in place.

Meanwhile, Rodin and Angela found themselves quickly going through the crowd, ignoring the booing. A few even attempted to throw food at them and insult them.

After managing to find safety in their rest-spot, the two looked over to where the other team was.

A confused look came on both of their faces.

There was only three individuals standing in the rest-spot, Vira and two other cloaked people. Only one missing with their leader, Joshi.

"What's going on?" Angela inquired, looking over to Rodin and seeing if he had any ideas on the situation. All he had was a pondering look on his face, keeping his attention to the people in front of him.

Before she could ask him again, the speakers echoed a high pitched whine that got everyone's attention.

"Sorry for the long wait ladies and gentlemen, but now it's time for the 2nd match!"

The audience roared out in cheer, making the entire arena rumble.

"In the first corner, representing Team Fairy Tail for the second round, Angela Porla!"

Despite the enthusiastic announcement, few audience members clapped when they heard the name. Silence was the main sound in the entire area, indicating many knew who she was.

"Charming bunch aren't they?" Rodin remarked sarcastically, turning his head to see Angela walking out of their area.

With her appearance, the silence soon turned to a wave of boos at her, some even trying to throw their expensive drinks at the girl.

Angela easily dodged the incoming cups and liquids, eventually finding her way to the arena.

The spotlight soon found it's way to the other team.

"And now! Representing Team Wild Breaker's for the 2nd match, we have the man in the Blue Cloak, who's said to be the wise member of the team. Put your hands together for **Amlaibh Sterling**!"

With that introduction, the man grabbed a part of his cloak and tossed it off of him, revealing his face.

This caused many of the woman, and even some men, to scream with glee at the person's face.

The man's appearance was that of a mid-twenty year old with smooth tanned skin, making him look drop dead gorgeous. His eyes were crystal clear blue yet held a strong conviction, making him look like a serious and gentle man. His blazing red-hair really drew the attention of everyone as it was shaggy, but had a natural feel to it.

His attire consisted of a black hoodie jacket with the zipper in front open with bright yellow drawstrings. Underneath it was a green v-shirt that left his neck and part of his chest exposed. His bottom half had on gray-loose fitting pants that allowed for easy movement. Which also went with his adventure shoes that he had on as well.

Additionally, he had on some special accessories like a small necklace with a crystal tied at the end. Around his left wrist were an assortments of wrist bands, some loose and others tight. It was also revealed that he had a average-sized book in his right hand.

He stepped into the battlefield and looked directly at Angela.

"Well? Aren't you gonna give up?" He inquired, making Angela raise her eyebrow in annoyance.

"Why in the hell would I do that? You don't look all that tough to me," she retorted, making some of the woman in the audience boo at her.

A surprised look soon found it's way onto Amlaibh's face.

"Huh, weird," he stated with confusion, scratching his head with his free hand. "Normally when a woman sees me, they immediately just want to surrender and not fight me."

That remark made the woman's vein pulse in her forehead. She took a few seconds to calm herself down and looked back towards her opponent, having narrow eyes on him.

"Well unlike those sluts, I'm not easily impressed by you. Hell, I'd sooner date a goat than you," Angela spat out.

That last remark cemented her status as the hated person for the current match. Most of the females soon found themselves with a dark aura and red piercing eyes focused right on her.

The man didn't seem to care much about her statement and opened the book in his hand, beginning to read it.

"Alright then, if both sides are ready, then let the second match begin!"

The audience roared in cheer, wanting nothing more than to see what their entertainers would do.

Angela took a fighting stance, keeping herself loose and ready for anything that might come her way. To her surprise, it wasn't the same deal with her opponent.

Amlaibh simply continued reading his book, ignoring the eager cheers of the crowd. All anyone could see was the red-haired man looking bored out of his mind.

Rodin scratched his chin at the man his teammate was facing. He couldn't sense any ill-intent at her, but at the same time, it felt like the man was waiting for something.

The Dragon-Slayer couldn't tell what he was planning. All he knew was that if the black-haired mage wanted to win, she'd have to keep on her toes and play it safe.

His wishful thinking didn't seem to matter.

Tired of waiting, Angela went running forward, calling up her **Shatterpoint** aura through both of her arms. The glow was brighter than normal as the color was a deeper shade of blue.

She jumped and sent a palm-thrust right at the man, aiming to hit him right on his head.

What happened next shocked nearly everyone.

It looked as if the attack would connect, but sure enough, the Black-haired mage's hand collided against a wall. The impact created a shock-wave that spread, but it didn't break at all.

Figuring it was some kind of magic, Angela poured her aura directly into the barrier. She believed that her magic's effect would make that invisible barrier crumble, but her plans changed.

Out of nowhere, the energy found itself draining away, moving away from the wall and towards the same book Amlaibh had.

Surprise painted her face, causing her to jump back to avoid anything else.

She looked down to her hand and felt that the energy in her arms were gone. In one fell swoop, someone managed to block and steal some of her own magic power.

"Shatterpoint...Tricky magic alright," he remarked with a bored tone. "If it had hit me, I'd probably be down on the floor. Let's see how you like it."

With that statement, the book started glowing, causing the pages to flip at a rapid rate before stopping at one. When it did, Angela's blue aura reemerged from it, only this time, it turned into an apparition of herself.

The woman didn't have time to give a look of shock as it mimicked her previous actions and attempted to attack in the same manner.

She found herself dodging the attack, but saw that the spirit landed and sent out a barrage of attacks in an attempt to land one.

All Angela could do was dodge each one with her reflexes, waiting to get one shot in. After dodging a thrust, she saw that chance and called up her magic, generating it into a spinning orb in the palm of her hand.

"**Shatter-Buster!**"

Thrusting with everything she got, the attack managed to hit the apparition, but not the way she expected.

Upon contact, the spirit soon found itself wrapping around Angela's arm with the orb. Within seconds, the orb started disappearing into it, and eventually drain back into the book once more.

With it's task finished, the apparition disappeared.

The Black-haired woman looked over to her red-headed opponent, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Soon enough, the book once again flipped at a high speed, stopping at another pace. Another replica of Angela in spirit form came out, only this time, she had the orb in her hand.

Once again, it dashed and attempted to hit her one more time.

The black-haired mage attempted to move, but found herself losing feeling in her legs. It caused her to buckle and drop to her knees.

Everyone viewing only saw it for a few seconds, but it was enough to leave a serious impression on them.

Right when Angela fell, her spirit copy landed the blow right at her chest. Upon impact, an explosion triggered and pushed her back tumbling, stopping near the wall.

"Angela!" Rodin yelled out, looking in worry at her teammate, who was still conscious, but now holding her body in pain.

Cheers erupted as many of the women screamed out Amlaibh's name.

The black-haired woman struggled, feeling the affects of her own magic starting to work their way through her body. Despite being able to control it and keep it from spreading too much, it left her in a world of pain.

"That magic...What the hell is it?..." She inquired, struggling to keep herself standing up.

Her opponent looked up from his book, giving a sigh of annoyance.

"I thought you'd already be down by now, but guess not. My magic's called **Book Magic**, which basically lets me do quite a bit when I have this," he replied while showing the book he held in his hand. "All the attacks you did got copied into the pages, letting me reuse them whenever I want."

"The barrier that blocked me, that was..."

"Another spell I previous had stored in here. It's from a magic called **Wave**, which is why your Shatterpoint couldn't break through it. Wave already disrupts magic, all your's does is disrupts weak-points in the body."

Angela spat out some blood, glaring towards the man with anger. It was one thing if someone replicated her form and attacks, but to copy her own Magic? That was something she wouldn't stand for.

"Get it now? There's no way to beat me," Amlaibh declared with a stern tone.

"We'll see about that!" The woman remarked, standing back on her feet and showing determination. Angela never liked people who talked that way, it made her blood boil.

Her resolve was now stronger than before, wanting nothing more than to defeat the Book-mage.

"Fine, have it your way."

With that single remark, Amlaibh knew that things were starting to get serious.

Summoning his orange magic energy, the book opened and caused all the pages inside to rip off and go flying. Each one had a formula with what looked like writing and element symbols. He tossed the empty cover to the ground and caused the pages to float in mid-air, maneuvering them with only his hands.

Seven pages found their way in front of him, each one glowing brightly.

"**Page Knight**."

From the six paper pages, each one began to morph and grow larger, changing into a new shape by folding. After a few seconds, all six pages now took on the appearance of a knight.

Their material changed shape from paper to a metallic texture. The appearance and texture looked exactly like a real knight, though each one had a different symbol on them.

"Defend your king," were the only words Amlaibh spoke, causing them to stand at the ready with their sword and shield.

Angela didn't know what to expect from the new warriors, and could only keep defense stance up if they tried anything.

Her instincts were right.

Suddenly, one of them went running forward, pulling the sword it had back and swinging downward. Only when it hit the ground, a powerful eruption of what looked like wind blew up, spiraling right at Angela.

With her arms ready, the black-haired mage focused her magic through them, calling up a large amount of blue aura to embody her. She then started spinning, creating what looked like a powerful rotation barrier.

"**Aura barrier!**"

Upon collision, the winds blew in all direction, disbursing the attack. The air managed to blow at great speeds, causing some of the audience members to cover their faces to avoid the stinging dust.

Despite her impressive blocking, Angela couldn't have predicted what would happen next.

Unaware of what was going on while she spun, the woman suddenly felt another stronger force hit her barrier.

Only this time, it felt like a barrage of attacks hit her at once.

On the outside, another knight stepped next to the wind-knight, channeling a large orb right at the tip of his sword. Within seconds, it slashed down and released it, but to everyone's surprise, the orb broke apart. The separate spheres now aimed right at Angela's barrier, hitting it at different areas.

Even with the speed and stability of her barrier, ,each one kept weakening it. By the last impact, Angela's spell broke and the explosion sent her tumbling into the ground. She stopped after a few rolls, trying to regain her senses, but didn't have the time as she suddenly felt an energy release from above her.

From above, Another knight had what looked like electricity generating from it's entire body. The focus of said energy was focusing through it's shield. Soon after the shield glowed brightly, a powerful blast released downward.

Despite her senses in a flux, she managed to quickly get herself up and front roll away from the impact. Though some of the discharge hit her back, dealing a bit of damage.

All she could do was struggle to get back up, feeling how the attacks were starting to affect her in one way or another. Her attempt to try and regain herself fell short when she heard the clatter of armors.

It caused her to look up and see the remaining three standing side-to-side. Each one then summoned their energy, connecting their shields together.

Fire, Earth, and Light energy glowed from the middle, causing their auras to merge together. Within seconds, all three released a blast of their separate magics, combining them together.

There was no way to avoid the speed of the attack.

The blast made it's mark, hitting Angela and sending her crashing right into the wall.

Audience members cheered, causing a strong vibration that shook the entire arena.

"Angela!" Rodin yelled out, looking at the cloud of smoke that covered where the impact was. He held his breath when it finally started to clear out, waiting to see if she was okay.

His eyes widened with horror.

The black-haired mage's body dropped against the wall, causing her to sit on the ground, bleeding and badly hurt. Their last attack also showed to rip her clothes slightly, showing her missing parts of the leggings and a piece of her shirt.

Her opponent seemed to not care at that point, looking through a second book that he pulled out.

"I warned her to give up... Not my fault," was his response. All he did was start to walk away, believing that the match was over.

The last remaining member of Team Fairy Tail wanted nothing more than to go over to him and break his nose.

Lucky for him, someone else would get that privilege.

"**God, you're such a dick you know that?**" A voice suddenly spoke out, causing everyone to turn back to where Angela's body was.

What they saw made a few look in fear.

Around Angela's entire body, her aura started to wrap itself, causing smoke to emit from her. The smoke was the result of the woman's wounds beginning to heal. Soon after, the aura started taking on a shape, one which Rodin was familiar with.

It's appearance looked like a red aura cloak with long ears, an almost-solid body with claws on her hands and feet. Plus a long tail on her back that moved on it's own, swinging back and forth.

Amlaibh turned and had a changed look on his face, from that of serenity and boredom to surprise and interest.

With her new found strength, Angela managed to stand up, causing the aura to move in the same motion as she did.

"**Don't think this is over,**" she told him with confidence. "**In face, we're just getting started!**"

She looked up and showed off her new features, which were whisker lines on her cheeks and slit red eyes. It caused an apparition of what looked like a demon fox to appear, making everyone stop their cheers and become silent with fear.

Even Rodin found himself sweating, never feeling such a rage or power in his entire life.

"Well, looks like I might actually get to have Some fun after all," Amlaibh remarked with a hint of excitement.

Everyone now knew that the second round of this match would soon begin. All except for one small feline, who found herself investigating their employee.

Unfortunately, that curiosity would soon kill that cat.

* * *

_**Hallway**_

In the back hallways of the arena, darkness surrounded them, giving a foreboding ambiance in the air. Almost as if anyone that traveled through it would find the secrets of evil within them. The only thing keeping people from feeling that was the small safe way that was lit by torches, allowing people to walk.

For one individual, it also allowed his secrets to be secure.

Duke Marsh, who left his booth after a while, walked through this hallway with a cloak on. He had a feeling like someone was watching him, constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure he was safe. Each time, no one came to his view.

After the last time, he simply ignored the feeling and continued his walk towards his destination.

Little did he know, someone was following him, but it was not from the ground. It was from above him.

On one of the chandeliers that allowed from a large amount of light to emerge. Trixie peeked out and saw that her target was moving further.

Since their last encounter after Galvin's defeat and bed-ridden injuries. The feline found herself growing more and more suspicious of their employer, who seemed to have been lying more. At first she believed it to just be her imagination, but after his crocodile tears with his bodyguard, she knew there was more to it.

Knowing Rodin would've easily told her to ignore it, the feline thought it best if she investigated it alone. While she wanted to make sure they won, all Trixie could do was rely on their former enemy to win.

Though she'd sooner stab her hand than ever admit it.

Soon after her partner and Angela went towards the arena for the next match, the feline waited and followed Marsh when he left.

Her following lead the feline deeper into the arena, going down to a place even she didn't expect was part of the casino.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Duke finally arrived at a door. Looking around, he pulled out a key and unlocked it, opening it and going inside.

After he entered, Trixie dropped down and landed on the ground, walking towards the door. Knowing it was foolish to try and open it, she did the next best thing. Remembering a trick Rodin taught her when they were younger, she pulled out one of her claws.

With a bit of force and elbow-grease, she managed to puncture all the way through and make a small hole. Not enough to see what was going on, but enough to allow the feline to hear everything.

She placed her ear against the hole and waited.

It started with just silence, along with what sounded like the clinks of bottles and glasses. Though after a few minutes, Trixie found herself listening to one of the most horrid conversations ever.

"I can't believe it. Here I always assumed that Galvin would be stronger than most, but once again, you surprise me Joshi," the Duke admitted.

The feline's eyes widen in horror, realizing that Duke Marsh was talking with their opponent's leader.

"I won't lie and say that he didn't give a heated fight. Whatever he is, it left quite the impression on Vira," the masked-man replied.

"Oh please. Once this is all over, a large bonus will probably snap her out of it," Marsh remarked in a cocky tone.

"Yes, but I just need to make sure that the odds are still in Our favor, otherwise this whole thing will blow up in our face. Can you guarantee that these fools will not win?"

"There's a special reason I chose that team to take the fall for our heist. Fairy Tail's reputation of causing destruction is already wide-spread. In the event of any possible changes to the plan, all I'd need to do is trigger a special demolition I set up through the entire building."

That remark now got Trixie's full attention, making her cover her other ear to listen better. Though she was unaware of the shaking that was going on outside, causing one of the chandeliers to loosen up.

"Beautiful, how long will it give us?"

"Ten minutes, but I've already made sure that the bets will have already be in bags before the place explodes. Everyone will die, Fairy Tail will be the prime suspect, and we will walk away with billions."

"To a beautiful partnership."

"Here-here."

Both hit their glasses together, taking a long drink from them.

The feline couldn't move or speak, all that she had was a look of horror on her face. She never could've expected that the man who showed kindness was so dark. All the lies about bringing a better future for Venture Town was nothing more than hog-wash.

Trixie knew she had to stop this before it was too late.

She summoned up her wings, attempting to fly out quickly, but found herself hit by the chandelier that loosened.

The impact when she hit the floor was enough to knock her unconscious.

When the partners heard the commotion, they quickly went out to see who was causing trouble, but only found the feline on the floor.

"Oh no! She must've followed me here-!" Marsh couldn't finish his sentence as Joshi grabbed him by the neck, closing his airway.

The Duke could feel himself struggling to take in precious oxygen, feeling a familiar darkness beginning to inch onto him, wanting his soul.

Unfortunately for him, the sweet release of death would not take him that day.

"You're one of the most Irritating people I've ever worked it. She knows everything and we're screwed!" The masked-man remarked with anger, letting the Duke drop to the floor.

He turned his attention to the feline and grabbed her, seeing a bit of blood from the side of her head.

"With luck, she won't remember this. Though since you are practically useless, I guess I'll have to take matters into my own hands."

With that single comment, Joshi focused his magic, causing his flames to manifest within his arm. It slowly drew over and surrounded the feline.

After a few seconds, they stopped and revealed to have caused scorch marks on her body.

The masked-man threw the feline to his partner, who caught her.

"Take the cat back and lie about what happened. Fairy Tail's already down one member, now with this, even if they do manage to beat Amlaibh. They'll have no choice to either fight with another or give up."

After that statement, the masked-man left the Duke in the darkness, holding an injured feline in his hand.

All he could do was follow his partner's order and walked back to the room where Galvin was.

Little did Trixie or Joshi know, Marsh was already planning something that would soon take All his enemies out of the equation. Leaving him with the riches, power, and a new empire.

* * *

_**Hey everyone, I've now completed the newest chapter for Gaia, sorry if it's short this time around, trying to keep it together with suspense and stretch it a bit more. I know I've been absent for a while, with school and the holiday, I didn't have much inspiration. But now, I'm gonna be doing my best to return back to my normal posting schedule.**_

_**Some references: Angela's new form is based off of the Jinchuriki's Tailed beast cloak, and spoiler, her cloaks will go more and more over the chapters so look forward to that. Also the aura barrier is based off the Hyugia Clan's Rotation Jutsu so hope you guys liked that. I'd like to thank Pokemonking for giving me the names of the attacks I've done so far, he's been a big help in my writing.**_

_**Anyway I will still be trying to keep up with my posting so please bare with me. Stayed Tuned for Chapter 21: Helm of Knowledge Part 2. **_


	21. Tournament Gamble: Part V

_**Chapter 21**_

_**Helm of Knowledge  
**_

_**Part II**_

* * *

_**Arena**_

Where once sounds of cheering and jeering reverberated from the crowd. Now, only a silent and fearful tension filled the arena, which made many stop what they were doing.

Nobody wanted to utter a single sentence due to what was in front of them.

A sight that could make even the strongest of mages sweat in fear.

Right in the middle, Angela was now cloaked with a bright blue aura cloak that gave the physical feature of a fox. Though due to it, it also gave the black-haired mage black-whiskers etched into her cheeks and red-slit eyes.

It was almost like she herself was a demon.

Her opponent, Amlaibh, didn't seem to worry about the change. In fact, his face gave a look of enjoyment by what he saw.

A small part of him loved the thrill of battling, and it began to leak out.

"This is just..Amazing. What is this power you let out?" The red-haired man inquired, feeling goosebumps climbing up his arms.

"**Beast-Rupture**... One of my more hands-on spells. Been saving it for some time now," she replied with a cocky tone.

With that statement, her tail suddenly flared up and stretched out, going directly to one of the knights. In an instant, it pierced the knight's armor, causing it to turn back into a regular piece of paper.

Everyone looked in shock by how fast the attack was, almost like a red blur just passed in front of them.

Even Amlaibh couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise by the attack.

"Just a small taste, now comes the main course!"

After uttering those words, Angela disappeared in an instant.

"**Knights**, protect!" Amlaibh commanded, causing the remaining knights to form up around their master. Each of them held their shields and swords up, awaiting anything that might attempt to attack.

Their wait wasn't long.

In front of them, Angela came back into view, causing the Light-Knight to send out a powerful towards her. Though Angela didn't move and took the attack, causing a large cloud of dust to engulf her.

The knight then broke from formation and went in to investigate whether she was still conscious or not.

After a few seconds, everyone suddenly saw an explosion clear the cloud away. After it exploded, the audience saw Angela's arm piercing right through the chest of the knight.

It soon destabilized and reverted back to a normal piece of paper.

"Know what's the best thing about this? I'm literally a living magic-canceler. Anything you try and send my way not only weakens, it falls apart upon impact," Angela explained.

This caused Amlaibh to become slightly annoyed by her remark. He never experienced having someone destroying two of his knights before.

"Don't get cocky with me, you bitch! There's more than one way to skin a cat!" He roared out, causing his book to glow brightly.

When it did, the remaining four knights he had started glowing as well. Each one then suddenly broke apart and started floating in mid-air for a few seconds. After that, all pieces started spinning around, creating a large orb of energy that hid the pieces from the viewing eye.

A large eruption from the orb delivered a powerful shock-wave that spread through the entire arena. Everyone once again braced themselves. Many felt the strong blowing winds against them, which caused many wigs and loose objects to fly away.

Though the result from it made everyone forget about the items they just lost.

Right in front of them was a merged knight from all the pieces of the previous four. The appearance was now of a heavy-armored knight with one single shield on it's left hand. While a long double-edged sword was in it's right hand.

Angela kept her guard up, not knowing what kind of power this new construct would have.

That question soon gave an answer.

In mere moments, the knight pulled the sword upward, generating what looked like one dark orb at the tip of the sword.

It grew and soon was the size of a church bell, making some of the audience start to leave the arena in fear of the attack.

"**Unity Burst!**"

Once the orb was complete, the knight brought the sword down and held it forward. With one pull back and thrust forward, the condensed orb released to a powerful blast.

Angela saw how the blast was heading right in her vicinity. She was about to dodge, but realized that she couldn't due to the people behind her. The blast was strong enough to even hit the other people.

She summoned up her defensive spell once more, only this time, it was at a much bigger size.

When the blast collided with it, a powerful surge of energy built up. Angela's dome was weakening the more she tried to keep it And her second spell.

Amalibh saw that the barrier was starting to wear down. He focused more of his magic through the book, causing the knight to start moving forward. The closer it got, the more intense the build-up was becoming.

If there was gonna be a break between their stalemate, the black-haired mage would have to let go.

And so she did.

In one fell-swoop, an explosion triggered with both Angela and the knight getting caught. It caused most of the audience to yell out as the shock-wave hit them all.

Even Rodin had to brace himself due to how strong it was.

Through the area, silence found it's way to every nook and cranny that normal sound would come from. A dust cloud covered the battlefield, leaving everyone unsure of who was still standing and who was on the ground.

After a few minutes, some of it seemed to slowly disburse, revealing the Book Mage to be still standing.

A barrier had covered him, indicating that the attack was strong enough to reach him.

Amalibh was panting slightly, having needed to use a decent amount of energy to keep it from breaking. After believing that the worst was over, he lowered it down and tried to look through the smoke in an attempt to see where Angela was.

Before he knew it, something hard hit him right in the side of his face, knocking him down and making him tumble right into a wall.

He was a bit delirious from the attack, but soon came to his senses and looked on.

Amalibh's eyes widen after seeing who hit him.

Standing near him was his opponent, only now she took on a different appearance than before. Her cloak was now more solidified, blending and enhancing with her current outfit. Angela's eyes now also took on a new color, changing to a dark blue instead of light.

Everyone could't believe their eyes at what they were seeing, thinking it must've been some kind of trick.

"**Beast-Rupture: Hardening!**"

The red-haired man managed to get back on his feet, opening his book to prepare for anything. His worries seemed to lessen though as his opponent drop to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Ha! What was that?! Some kind of random spell you just did. If that's your best, then this match is definitely over!"

"Fat chance," Angela retorted, trying to keep up her bravado despite feeling her body straining. After the impact of the explosion, her only option was to absorb the dome and enter her second spell form. Though due to the incredible intake of energy, it would strengthen her weak points, but put a heavy strain on her physical body.

All she knew was that the fight had to end now or else it would become worse for her.

"Alright, if you think you can still fight, then do it!"

With that remark, more pages tore off his book, spinning into a barrage of orbs.

"**Index Barrage!**"

Directing them with his fingers, they all flew right at the black-haired mage.

Angela tried with all her might, but found herself losing strength the more she moved. Her legs felt like someone stabbed them with swords and it was getting more difficult for her to breath.

Even with the power she gained, the woman's body was refusing to cooperate with her.

Time seemed to slow down as Angela felt everything becoming more and more muffled. The cheer of the audience, her own heart-beat, everything seemed like it was in another world.

That same feeling caused her to remember a time before she left the rule of Phantom Lord.

A time Angela wished had never happened.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Phantom Lord**_

_**Main Headquarters**_

_**10 years ago**_

_"No no no!" a darkened voice spat out in an irritated tone. "You must focus it and imagine you striking it through your enemy's heart!"_

_Deep within one of the more hidden areas of the mountain, explosions of magic flashed and reverberated in echoes._

_Two figures stood in front of a large bolder, which had different sized holes and cracks._

_Sunlight shined down and revealed Jose Porla, Guild-Master of Phantom with a young Angela. The eight year-old mage was breathing heavily, hands bleeding and tears pouring down her face._

_Angela's training outfit she had on consisted of a black sports bra with matching tight leggings and her long hair put in a short bun so it wouldn't get in the way. _

_On that day, the guild-master decided to personally supervise his daughter's training. He believed that the mages helping her were limiting the potential she had._

_Though after working with her for almost three hours, Jose was starting to think maybe he was wrong about it._

_His attention now turned to where her recent attack hit, only seeing the impression of rotation. The last one only managed to break off a few pieces of the bolder._

_"Please master... I don't want to do this anymore..." Angela begged, wanting to cry out in pain due to her bleeding knuckles._

_"Insolent child!" He remarked, slapping her face and knocking her to the ground. "I've told you already, my daughter will not be a pathetic weakling! If you want any hope of surviving in this guild, you must learn to overcome your own weakness!"_

_All she could do was get back up once more, feeling the pressure of her tears welling up. The black-haired child couldn't help but let out a single sob._

_That noise gave her another slap from the Guild-master, this time, knocking her down to the ground._

_He pulled back his hand and saw blood covering the side._

_"**Worthless child**," Jose spoke with a venomous tone. By that point, he decided to give up._

_"You will not return to the guild until you've shatter this bolder. Two days will be your limit, and if you still haven't. Then you can just leave and say farewell to your mother."_

_With that last hurtful comment, the Guild-Master turned around and began walking away. By the time he disappeared, Angela was all alone, laying down with her face in a small puddle of blood and tears._

_When she believed Jose had left the area for good, Angela sat up, feeling the mud sticking to her face. Knowing she didn't have a towel, the black-haired child grabbed her shirt and started to clean off the dry blood._

_All she felt was emptiness in her heart as she sat up against a rock, bringing her knees to her developing chest._

_"..Why.. Why is my life like this?" Angela whispered to herself. "Mommy please... Please come get me mommy, please..."_

_Her prayer fell on deaf ears, leaving the black-haired child to just sit there and cry all alone._

_By the time she realized it, the day already passed and night soon surrounded the area. Angela looked up and sighed, knowing that she already wasted one day and needed to get working or else her mother would die._

_She stood up and dusted her pants off, getting rid of the dry blood and dirt that cake onto them._

_Looking back to where the bolder was, Angela knew that her attack had to break it apart._

_Focusing her hands and spacing them apart, the magic energy appeared and began to spin, creating an imperfect orb._

_With the energy ready, the young child ran forward, yelling before she thrust forward. The impact of the spell collided once again with the bolder, making Angela struggle to keep it under control. _

_The imbalance was too much, causing a powerful shock-wave that knocked her back a few feet. She sucked in air through her teeth, feeling the sharp pain that inflicted on her own hands._

_It was almost like a thousand needles that stabbed both her palms at the same time. _

_A few minutes past before the pain subsided, making Angela lie on her back and look up at the stars. Despite knowing the risk of her taking another break, by that point she didn't care anymore. _

_The young girl felt like she had to face facts, there wasn't anyway for her to complete the spell to destroy the rock. Nothing was ever gonna be good enough for her father or the guild, and she didn't care anymore._

_All Angela wanted now was just to feel her mother's warmth one last time._

_Eventually she found herself closing her eyes, drifting to the sweet relief of her dreams._

* * *

_**Dream**_

_Before long, something gently touched her cheek._

_Angela opened her droopy eyes, looking up to see who had disturbed her sleep. The young girl got up from the floor she was on, seeing now that there was a field of wild flowers. The sky itself was a clear blue, almost like the ocean found it's way to the heaven's themselves and stayed there, generating a rainbow color with the reflection of the sun passing through it. _

_All she could do was stare in shock by who was in front of her._

_Right before her was her mother, **Trisha Menage**, who was wearing what appeared to be her old mage outfit Angela saw in old portraits. She had dark black hair and the same condition as her daughter, heterochromia iridium. One eye color was light gray while the other was light brown. The most noticeable thing about her was that she had a large endowment, one that her daughter would inherit someday._

_Her attire consisted of a __white trench coat with blue lining over a dark blue top-skirt with golden lining. Exposing quite a bit of cleavage and ending at her thighs. Along with this, she wears a pair of dark blue stilettos with special black leggings that came from under her skirt. _

_Whatever it was, Angela didn't care one bit. All she could do at that point was just try not to cry, which was an effect of the treatment she endured, and it sunk in._

_The Trisha construct smiled and walked up to her, stopping right in front of the little girl._

_"..M..m...mommy...?" She whispered, wishing it to be her more than anything._

_Angela soon felt the warmth of her mother's left hand on her cheek. It caused her to feel tears flow freely. A few seconds later, she jumped forward and give the woman a tight hug._

_All the pent-up rage and frustration finally broke out as the young girl cried into her mother's clothes. Trisha simply smiled and held her child close, humming a soft melody she did when Angela was a baby._

_After a few seconds, which felt like minutes, the sobbing calmed down._

_"How are you here mommy?" she inquired, muffling against Trisha's clothes. Some small part of her hoped against hope that it wasn't a dream. _

_The woman gently pushed her daughter back, getting down to one knee and looking face-to-face at her. Despite not uttering a single word, Angela felt like she knew what her mother was trying to tell her._

_All she did was place her hand right on the left of the young girl's chest, indicating that Trisha was in her heart. _

_Before Angela could make sense of what was happening, her mother quickly gave her a shake to grab her attention._

_Once the young girl focused on Trisha, she closed her hand and placed it against her own heart. Then followed up with a nod._

_The darkness grew more and more larger around them, which then started to spiral around the young girl's mother. _

_In mere seconds, the black void swallowed Trisha up, making Angela scream in horror, but couldn't hear her own voice. _

_The black ooze finally took a shape, one that she would come to hate for the rest of her time within Phantom Lord. _

_It now took the appearance of her father, Jose, who grinned evilly with red eyes glowing. A demonic roar was the last thing Angela heard before it lunged right at her._

* * *

_"NOOO!" She yelled out, sitting up from the ground. _

_A river of sweat dropped down her face, falling off her face and landing on the floor. In a short time, a few small puddles filled some of the cracks on the ground._

_Angela looked around, seeing that she was still back at the training grounds her father made her stay in. The light from the sun was slowly starting to emerge from the mountain, indicating that the young girl slept through the night._

_All she could do was wipe the brow off her face, trying hard to forget the experience._

_The only image that stayed in the black-haired child's mind was what her mother did. She mimicked it, then felt something inside of her. A emotion that she remembered Trisha had so many times over even when sick._

_Will. _

_It was there that Angela knew why she wasn't able to get her spell to work. The fear of her father drove her hesitation, but now, it would drive a new goal for the future._

_Finding a way to end her father's reign and leave for good._

_With that spark ignited, Angela got back up, dusting herself off before taking the same position as before. This time, her face was almost like Jose's, cold and emotionless._

_The child moved her hands apart, slowly focusing her magic and making it emerge between them. When there was a large amount, she began to focus on spinning it and give it form. The pain from the previous night was starting to catch up, but it wouldn't stop her. After a few seconds, the spell finally emerged, spinning right between her hands like a top._

_She thrust the orb into the bolder, disbursing it as more cracks developed from the attack._

_At first glance, it seemed like the same result as before. Only now, the cracks quickly spread through that entire rock, breaking it apart and making it crumble to the ground._

_"Next time Father... That'll be your body..." Angela whispered venomously, praying that her day would soon come._

* * *

**_Now_**

_"That's right..."_ she thought to herself, turning her head slightly to view her teammate. Rodin looked like he was yelling something, but it couldn't hear what it was. _"I may not have gotten my payback, but in a way... You saved me. Beating my father, giving me a chance to make amends... The least I can do is do my best for you..."_

Time returned to normal as the barrage of orbs came crashing down to where Angela was.

"Angela!" The Dragon-Slayer yelled out, quickly covering his eyes to avoid getting dust in them from the cloud.

That last attack revived the audience as they roared with cheer, some even laughing with malice.

Amalibh grinned when his attacks made their mark, finally glad that the woman was dead. Despite his composed appearance, the red-haired man was growing tired from the spells he did.

He kept his eye on the smoke cloud with his book out, wanting to make sure that this time, she was down.

A quick gust of wind broke his focus, causing him to realize what that was.

"**Diamond block!**"

From the book itself, a large circle of diamond manifested onto the ground as it soon spread upward. From his left side, a powerful attack collided with the wall.

He turned to that side and was about to use another spell, but soon found a shadow blocking the little light that came from the hole above him.

Amalibh looked up to see Angela, smiling with an orb in her hand.

"Peek-a-boo!"

She threw it down, causing an explosion to erupt from the hole of the diamond wall. After landing, the woman turned her head and saw that the wall was breaking apart.

When it came crashing down, her opponent found himself clutching his head. The impact from the attack caused his body to weaken, making it more difficult for him to keep focus.

"I finally figured out your little trick," Angela's voice remarked.

Within seconds, Amalibh looked over to her and launched another spell, which conjured up a diamond bird that flew up. When it got high enough, the construct swung and released a barrage of sharp feathers towards the woman.

"Your magic's quite tricky I'll admit," she began talking, dodging each incoming shard that tried to hit her. "Though I noticed something, you don't send up more than one spell at a time, do you?"

Amalibh cancelled the construct, turning the pages until he stopped on another one. This time, a large rock found itself shooting up in the sky, and break apart.

Hail of flaming rocks came crashing down on the arena, making Angela move with everything she had left forward.

When she got out of that storm, the black-haired mage skid to a stop before slamming her fist to the ground.

"So I realized... When you do a spell, you leave yourself wide open, and defenseless."

A large slab from the ground uprooted upward, making her kick it towards the red-haired man. Right when her foot connected with the rock, the solid aura around her body transferred right into the rock itself.

"In short, you're done."

The aura soon manifested itself and changed it's shape into a fox, roaring as it flew right at the red-haired man.

All he could do was widen his eyes in shock, feeling the full force of the rock hit him hard. Combined with that was an explosion, propelling him backwards to slam against the wall.

The red-haired man coughed out a good amount of blood.

Amalibh slid down the wall, feeling the aura begin to crawl up his body. It wouldn't be much longer until his energy became cut off.

He tried to get his book, but only succeeded in seeing Angela's attack break it's spine. All the pages flew into the area, slowly disappearing in a denigrating light.

It was the last images Amalibh would see as he passed out.

Everyone, including Rodin, were speechless.

"The.. The winner of round two is Angela Porla!"

Instead of cheers, the crowd went on to throw their expensive cocktails and food at the arena. The black-haired woman couldn't careless and simply exhaled a sigh of relief.

Though when she tried to walk back, her legs gave way and fell forward.

Luckily, someone managed to catch the black-haired before the ground did. She leaned against his shoulder, unable to see who it was.

"Geez, you've really got a flare for finishing, don't you?" Rodin remarked with a chuckle.

Angela managed to get back on her feet, looking at the Dragon-Slayer that caught her. Normally, she would've just remarked with a snarky response. That time, the black-haired mage remarked with something unexpected.

"Thanks.." She replied, feeling her face start to smoke from the embarrassment.

The two quickly made their way off the field to avoid getting hit by more trash, and made it back to their team's spot.

The two were about to sit down when a woman quickly came over to them. She muttered something that only they could hear, making Rodin widen his eyes with shock.

Things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

_**Medical Room**_

"What happened?!" Rodin yelled out, shocked by what he saw after entering the room.

Lying in another bed next to their other teammate Galvin was Trixie. He ran towards her and stopped on the bedside, looking in horror at his partner.

Part of the feline's body was in bandages with a few patches of her fur burnt off.

"I found her like this," a voice remarked as Rodin turned around to find Duke Marsh. "I rushed her here as quickly as I could, and the doctor assured me that she'll make a full recovery."

The last part of the sentence made the Dragon-Slayer exhale a breath of relief.

"Thank gods... Who did this?" He inquired, tightening his fist in rage.

"It had to have been the Wild-Breaker's," Angela commented while having the doctor put bandages on her wounds. "Their team-leader does have those Black-Flames."

"Maybe, but without proof, it's hearsay at best. We wouldn't be able to charge them with anything or stop the match," Marsh lied.

The room grew silent after hearing the statement.

"Attention! The next match will begin in five minutes," the announcer declared through the speakers.

"He can't be serious!" Angela uttered in shock, wincing a bit in pain. "What happened to that ten minute break we're owed?"

"Take a wild guess," Rodin remarked with irritation, hating how bad the situation was at the moment.

"That's it... It's over..." Marsh admitted, secretly jumping with joy at the turn out. Soon enough, his plan would come to fruition and all his enemies would be gone in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, there was a small monkey wrench that stopped his plan.

Or in that case,a cat wrench.

"Geez... Can't a cat get some sleep?" a soft voice asked in a sarcastic tone, making everyone turn to see the feline's eyes open.

"Trixie!" Both Rodin and Angela yelled, happy to see their teammate up and about.

"Can't go five minutes without me having to bail you guys out huh?" She muttered, sitting up from her bed.

"Now just a second," Marsh declared as he walked towards them. "The doctor said that you are in no condition to walk, much less fight."

"Bullcrap," she retorted, pulling off the blankets and getting down to the ground. The feline felt herself getting light-headed, but shook it off and began walking.

"Rodin, you're her partner, are you really going to let her do this?!" He inquired, hoping that he'd react like the Duke expected him to.

Rodin looked to Marsh before looking down to Trixie, who stopped and turned her head. The Dragon-Slayer saw her eyes filled with determination and conviction.

The two of them always knew that there would come a time when they'd have to decide on something serious. That moment was now and it built a tension that would make anyone leave.

It soon broke by the Dragon-Slayer's exhaling, annoyed by what he was about to say.

"If she thinks we can do it, then I'm gonna believe in her," he declared honestly.

Trixie couldn't help but grin widely, glad that her partner was supportive in this.

After the doctor finished with Angela and left, muttering something under his breath, she stood up from the bed.

"I'm with you two, all the way," the black-haired woman remarked.

This made Rodin look over and smile to her, making Angela smile back and blush.

Trixie looked at her partner and then at her teammate, noticing that the two seemed to be more friendly to one another.

"Did something happen while I was out?" She inquired, raising her eyebrow in suspicion.

"Nope, nothing at all," Rodin replied with a nervous chuckle before going towards the door and opening it for the feline.

Trixie glared at the two, planning to find out what happened after her match ended. She summoned up her wings and took off with her two teammates following after.

After the door shut, Marsh went in a rage, punching the wall as hard as possible. The impact was enough to make his hand start to bleed.

"I'm not going to let those worthless mages keep me from my destiny..." He muttered venomously, walking out and slamming the door behind him.

Marsh soon reached into his pocket, pulling out the lacrima trigger and keeping it on stand-by. One way or another, this entire tournament would end with a bang.

* * *

**_Man, things are starting to get much more intense aren't they? Thank you for reading this chapter, sorry I took a little bit of time to post this, I've had finals this week and I didn't have time to fully finish it. I'm done with the semester so you should all expect a few early chapters now soon as I can get them done. _**

**_References: The area where Angela dreamed about her mother is similar to the Lovely Bones scenery, I watched the movie the other day and I thought it would be a good way to showcase her imagination. Angela's Beast-Rupture spell is based off of Naruto's Chakra Cloak, with some minor alterations to the design. _**

**_Hope everyone's enjoying their summer as well. Quick announcement, around the first week of August, I'll be heading out of town for about a week so I won't be able to work on anything. I'll probably be finishing this arc within the next three weeks before I leave. Thanks again for staying with me up until this point, I really appreciate everyone who's favored this story. Stay-turned for Chapter 22: Brawling Break._**


	22. Tournament Gamble: Part VI

_**Chapter 22**_

**_Brawling Break_**

**_For the third match-up, it will be a bit of a long one chapter deal since I'm trying to get through this to reach the finale of this arc. Hopefully, I gave enough for everyone to be entertained._**

* * *

_**Wild-Breaker **__**Rest Area**_

With their opponents having left to deal with their issues. The Breaker's found themselves with only two remaining members still standing. Joshi had returned from his meeting with Marsh, and now stood next to his teammate.

The cloaked-figure whispered something to the leader's ear. Within seconds, his entire body started glowing with a black aura. Even some of the audience members could feel the brooding darkness emanating from there.

"Damn that Marsh... He better keep his part of the deal, or else.." Joshi muttered, turning over to view the cloaked person. "If by some miracle those Fairy fools still find a way to fight, make sure you end the match."

A nod was the only response that the person gave, making Joshi scoff as he left to head back to his booth.

After the leader was out of sight, the cloaked person spat on the floor. Low murmurs came from him, almost like he was insulting his team-leader.

The person stopped when the Lacrima speakers came on, echoing out a bit of static. After a few seconds, the announcer began to speak out.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the time for the third will begin in two more minutes. Return to your seats and place your bets."

The sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the area with everyone returning to their seats.

"One minute remains, if the the contestant from Team Fairy Tail does not show up. The match And tournament will go to the Wild-Breaker's."

That single statement made more than half of the audience cheer in joy. The other half groaned in sadness, especially those who had a lot of money put into the match.

Before the Announcer could declare it, a spotlight emerged. It's light followed the path of the other team's side, and stopped. The team of Fairy Tail finally returned in time.

Their arrival brought the small group back to life, causing them to cheer with joy.

Meanwhile in Joshi's booth, the masked-man could only stare with the screen. Though there was signs of irritation due to him squeezing his glass of whisky so tight. It shattered and spilled the liquid all over the floor.

"Well folks, looks like Fairy Tail's finally arrived, so without delay. Let's have both our opponents step forward to the ring!"

Trixie cracked her neck, feeling ready to take on her opponent with everything. Although when she took that first step, pain stabbed through her whole body.

The effects of the burns she endured still lingered even with the doctor's treatment.

Rodin was about to help his partner up, but saw her put her paw up in response. Indicating that she was fine and didn't need anyone to aid her.

Trixie stood back up after a few seconds, gritting her teeth and continuing forward. Both Angela and the Dragon-Slayer looked at one another, concerned about their teammate.

On the Breaker's side, the remaining member grabbed part of their cloak. With one smooth motion, the person threw it off and revealed themselves.

The person was a young-looking mage with unkempt brownish black hair. His bangs framed his face and hung just above his chin. He also appeared to have red eyes with bags under them, completing his wild image.

His outfit consisted of a black sleeveless Chinese styled top with two armbands. The bottom half of his body has black tight pants with a belt keeping them from sagging. And his shoes are pitch-black combat boots with tight gray laces.

Both of them arrived in the right, each one glaring at the other with discontent. Their brooding aura's began to emerge, colliding with one another the more time passed.

"Alright folks! Here are the fighters for Round 3! First, from Team Fairy Tail, the small feline from parts unknown, **Trixie!**"

Part of the audience roared in cheer, surprising the feline as she wasn't used to it.

"And from the Wild-Breakers, a man whose rage once destroyed an entire army! Give it up for **Ryder!**"

With the man's introduction, the entire arena screamed with excitement. The whole arena shook from the rumbling, making Trixie stumble, falling on her knees. The pain shot up, causing the feline to grit her teeth.

"Kind of pathetic, aren't you?" Ryder asked, making his opponent look up to him. Her eyes now turned to slits, indicating that she was getting irritated. "Think it'd be easier if you just gave up and left. No point in sticking around when you can't even move."

Before he could continue, the black-haired man saw a magic aura glow around her. Within a few seconds, a large puff of smoke exploded, revealing Trixie's **Battle Form**.

Despite the transformation she did, the wounds on her body still stayed.

Ryder gave a look-over of the feline, seeing what was different about her. After a few seconds, he scoffed and cracked his neck, preparing for something.

"If you think that weak transformation is suppose to scare me. I'd leave right now.."

Right as he said that, a powerful magical aura erupted from his entire body. The purple color began to expand, solidifying over every part of the body. Despite it being dark, much of the audience saw the metamorphosis.

With one last explosion of energy, a shock-wave traveled throughout the arena.

It even reached both team's sides, causing Rodin and Angela to brace themselves. A few seconds after, the force almost knocked both of them to the ground.

Along with that was a dust cloud that covered most of the arena, making it difficult to see. Despite that, Rodin still managed to slam down his foot, triggering his Stone-Sensing.

When the vibrations traveled to where both fighters were. All the Dragon-Slayer could do was open his eyes, looking on in horror.

A shadowy figure came into view, who then swung something downward. Upon impact, a strong wind blew away the dust cloud and revealed both fighters.

The entire arena soon entered a moment of silence, caused by shock at what they viewed.

Ryder's new form was a reptilian-based humanoid that had a muscular and toned body. He shows to have two long antennae on his ear while having a large shell-like armor on his head. To some, it would look like he was wearing a helmet. There are dark pigmented areas on his arms, legs, chest, and head. What got many people's attention was the long tail on his back with a bladed stinger at the end.

"Otherwise, this will get bloody," Ryder threatened with a brooding tone in his voice.

In Fairy Tail's rest-area, Angela looked on with shock, realizing what he had done.

"That's **Take-Over**," She remarked, making the Dragon-Slayer turn to her with surprise.

"What the hell kind of Take-Over is that? Only one I've ever seen was Elfman's **Beast-Soul**. Thought he could only did partial ones?" He countered, making Angela shake her head.

"Take-Over doesn't just allow for partial ones, there are few who can do Full-Transformations. In fact, it was my understanding that Elfman Strauss had such a spell. Though from what I heard. He only mastered it recently during the war between **Fairy Tail** and **Phantom**," she explained.

All Rodin could do was turn back to the arena, looking to his partner. In his heart, the Dragon-Slayer knew she had a chance. He just wished that his mind didn't doubt her.

Trixie couldn't help but shiver, feeling how much power her opponent was putting out. At one point, the feline could almost feel herself wanting to kneel down. Before she could give into her body's instinct, a voice rang in her head.

_"If she thinks we can do it, then I'm gonna believe in her.." _

With that single memory, the cat was able to keep herself up. In her eyes, there was a look of determination that wouldn't bow to anyone.

"You done playing Dress-up?" she retorted, making the man raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Let's get this party going!"

"Alright! Without further adieu, let round three begin!" The announcer declared.

Right before the audience could cheer, both opponents dashed right at each other.

The two pulled their arms back, sending a fast punch to another that collided. Upon impact, a large echo of it reverberated through the area in seconds. The bone-crunching sound made some of the people wince with disgust.

Ryder didn't stop his attack as he manipulated his tail to move with his thoughts. It shot up and stood like a scorpion's tail, waiting for a few seconds. After that, he sent it flying in an attempt to hit the feline on her back.

Trixie saw this coming and summoned her wings, making them flap hard. The force propelled her backwards, causing her to skid along the ground.

The Take-Over mage didn't let her get away as he disappeared in an instant.

Trixie tried to figure out where he was, feeling a shadow over her head.

She looked up and saw him pulling back his stinger once more. This time when it lunged forward, Trixie barley dodged it by jumping to the left. The bladed edges nicked her right on the burns, causing her to hold in a scream. It made the feline lose her balance and fall on her back.

"Speedy little bitch, aren't you?" He taunted, focusing magic energy through his forearms. When it surrounded them, two powerful orbs manifested through the palms of his hands.

"Dodge this then! **Serpent Rope**!"

Closing both of his hands, two energy-like whips shot up from his palms. At the ends of each one, was a energy construct of what looked like a king cobra.

With one swing up, he made one fly upward before moving his arm downward. The snake opened it's mouth and aimed right at the feline.

Trixie's pain caused her to ignore what was going on above her. It first slammed her hard against the ground, causing the feline to cough out air. After that, it bite hard at a part of her body, sinking it's fangs into the skin.

"AHHH!" The cat yelled out, causing her to unsheathe her claws out. With one swing, Trixie was able to cut off the cobra's head and make the whip disappear.

She scrambled to get back up, standing on both of her legs without trouble. The feline saw Ryder looking at her, having a wild-grin on his face. Something made him smile with joy, which made Trixie confused.

Though unbeknownst to her, a more vile plan was set in motion.

* * *

_**Wild-Breaker's Booth**_

After departing from his team's rest-area, Joshi walked through the dark halls. Within minutes of walking, he arrived at the door with an emblem of his guild on it. He reached up to turn the knob, pulling it open and looking inside.

The room he was entering was a luxurious private booth that Marsh gave his team. It showed to have a pampered theme with a crystal chandelier providing the light. Furniture that was all black leather and padded for comfort. And a personal bartender that wore a butler's uniform behind the counter.

"Ah welcome back Master Joshi, shall I make you something?" The man inquired, seeing the masked-leader walk to his seat.

"Something heavy..." the man remarked, seating himself back on the chair and exhaling a sigh of relief.

The bartender nodded, grabbing a couple of bottles from the shelves. After grabbing a gold-encrusted from the bottom, he began to mix the drinks together. After a few majestic tricks, the drink was ready.

Joshi got up and walked over to the counter, lifting up his mask a little to expose his mouth. He grabbed the glass and began to drank from it, feeling the cold concoction enter. The taste was a mix of sweet with a bit of sour to even it out.

The masked-man nodded in approval and moved back to his seat.

With the drink finished, the bartender began to clean the counter. From time to time, he occasionally looked over at the screen and saw the fight.

"Lord Ryder seems like a great mage. That magic certainly made many shake in their shoes," the man admitted.

"The kid's a show off, nothing more," Joshi retorted, annoyed at the remark made. "Though I will admit, his true power makes him valuable to my team."

The statement made the man stop cleaning the counter.

"True power?" The bartender inquired, looking over to see Joshi sit up from his chair.

The masked-man made his way to the window and looked on at the battle.

"His Take-Over is just that Full-Transformation, the only spell he can do. Though once he gets you with those snakes of his, you're finished..."

A brooding aura enveloped Joshi, making the bartender tremble a bit. His shaky hands caused him to lose grip on the glass he was cleaning and drop it to the ground.

* * *

_**Arena**_

Trixie's vision soon started to turn fuzzy, making the feline rub her eyes to try and fix it. Using that distraction, Ryder summoned up another snake whip with his free hand.

The Take-Over mage began to swing both of them aimed at the feline. His attempt was to try and have at least one of them land another blow.

Her instincts managed to keep both of them from landing a blow as she kept moving away.

Each of his attempts missed by a narrow margin and hit the arena a couple of times.

Trixie's constant moving and focus on surviving made her unaware of the danger. After dodging another attack, something felt wrong.

She suddenly felt one of her legs go numb, making her lose control of it. Her moving leg tripped over the numb leg, making Trixie fall flat on her face.

The feline couldn't see where the next two attacks were coming from.

Two more hits connected and bit on her back, causing another yell from the feline. When the constructs released, a purple color soon started to spread on her fur.

After managing two more hits, Ryder cancelled his snake whips to everyone's surprise.

"Three bites... That oughta do it," he declared.

Trixie was about to say a snarky remark, but soon felt her entire body start to go limp. From her tail up to her head, everything was just starting to shut down. Purple started to fill the white color of her fur. After a few more seconds, the color of the fur was now brown and purple, instead of white.

"What's happening..." She slurred, feeling her mouth starting to go numb as well. Trixie could only look up, seeing Ryder walking up towards her.

A kick turned her body from her stomach onto her back.

"The real power behind this form of mine, **Venom Virus**."

The sinister tone in Ryder's statement made Trixie's eyes widen in shock. She attempted to try and move, but only felt some limbs move despite not feeling them.

"Those three attacks I got you with injected you with a corroding energy. It's a spell that feeds on your own magic energy, and leaves you limp until you're dry. With those three bites, I'd say that shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

The feline muffled out, trying to get her mouth to say something, but no luck.

Ryder went down and grabbed the feline by her tube-top, throwing her to the wall. Upon impact, blood spilled down the feline's purple mouth.

"Damn bastard!" A voice yelled out, making the Take-Over mage turn to see Rodin's magical aura. His brown colored was darker due to the rage he was currently feeling. The Dragon-Slayer wanted nothing more than to get up and beat Ryder's face in.

"Ah-ah, no interfering in the match," the Take-Over mage taunted. That only succeeded in making the Fairy Tail member angrier. "Unless you all want to give up right now, I'd shut the hell up."

Rodin's attention turned to Trixie, who was starting to slow down her breathing. He knew that there had to be someway to break free of it, but nothing came to mind.

All he could do was keep his gaze on his partner, who's breathing was starting to slow down. The feline's eyes opened a bit, almost like something surprised her.

Before realizing it, the Dragon-Slayer started to feel something going down his face. A cold and wet liquid that blurred his vision the more it came out. It was something that he'd never expected to have done ever again.

Rodin Clark was crying.

Trixie couldn't help but remember the last time she ever saw him shed tears. It was the time both of them met.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

**_Hinder-Village_**

**_Eight Years Ago_**

_The forest on the outskirts of the village gave a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. A soothing wind blew through, gently caressing the leaves and animals, cooling the area. It was a magical moment that only few experienced, including a small figure._

_The light from the sun illuminated the darkened area, revealing a young feline. She wore nothing except a long make-shift skirt and small shirt, covering her body. Dry patches of wet mud showed on her face, caked in after she fell into a muddy puddle. _

_All that went through her mind was that she needed food, and quickly._

_The feline didn't know anything about her past, no memories of anything. Even her own name alluded her. All she knew was that there was no living in the city streets._

_Knowing that people didn't give handouts in the city. The young cat decided to go into nature, and live amongst the other animals. All that she carried was her blanket and a bag filled with semi-fresh fruit she stole. _

_After trekking through the tall bushes, the feline found a clearing with a rock. It made her jump with joy as she ran towards it, finding some room to sit down. _

_She placed the bag in front of her and opened it. Reaching in, the feline took out an apple. After breathing on it and wiping it on the make-shift clothes she had on, the cat took a bite out of it._

_It was the sweetest thing she ever experienced in all her life. The more she bit into it, the more sweet it became._

_The blissful experience abruptly ended when a sharp pain traveled through her tail. She looked over and saw something retreating into the bushes after the feline turned. Before she could yell out, her vision blurred up and she passed out in seconds._

_The feline's body fell off the rock and was about to land on the grass, but something saved her. A figure shot out from the bushes and caught her, gently carrying her like a child._

_All the figure did was look at a bite mark on her tail and quickly dashed away._

* * *

_**Clark House**_

_Light passed through a window, shining over the face of the feline. Within a few seconds, her eyes opened abruptly, making her sit up and pant heavily. After a few seconds to calm down, she took a look around to find she was in someone's home. _

_"How did I get here?" The feline muttered, jumping up when she heard a door opening. She got her claws ready, looking to see who it was while she hid on the side of the bed. _

_Entering into the room was a ten-year old boy with short brown hair with tanned skin. The outfit he wore was a black tank-top with stone patterns on it with loose blue shorts. What the feline noticed was how both his arms had a gallery of different scars. Some that were recent and others that looked almost years old._

_He was currently carrying a small tray of food._

_The young boy looked around, noticing that the feline he brought disappeared. A few seconds later, he spotted the feline on the other side of the bed. She looked like she was ready to attack and claw his eyes out._

_"Hey, you're awake," the boy remarked with joy. "Thank goodness. I saw that poisonous snake bite you and thought you wouldn't make it."_

_The statement made the feline remember what happened, making her look at her tail. It was still attached to her body and fully functional. Only now, there was a long wrapping that reached up to the middle, covering the bite mark. _

_Her savior placed the tray of food on the floor close to her, and stepped away. _

_"Sorry if it's not a lot, was gonna go fishing before I found you," he admitted. _

_The feline put her claws away and slowly stepped forward, moving towards the food. When she finally got there, she took a few quick sniffs to make sure it wasn't poisoned. After that, the cat went in and ate the food like there was no tomorrow._

_"No need to rush. I've got a bit more so you can have as much as you want," the boy mentioned. _

_All she did was continue to eat. _

_After what seemed like hours, which was only two minutes, the feline stopped. She felt her stomach full up and laid down, burping a little in satisfaction. _

_"So... You can talk?" The boy inquired, coming back with some water for her to drink._

_That statement made her look back, realizing she must've talked out loud while sleeping. _

_"Y-yeah, I can..." _

_She secretly planned to attack if he would try and do anything to her, making her claws come out._

_The child sat down on a chair close by, keeping his eye on the feline. Though instead of having a look of fear, a wide-grin plastered his face._

_"That's so cool!" he exclaimed, making her raise an eyebrow in confusion._

_It was the first time anyone ever said something other than vile profanities. The feline slowly withdrew her claws back, walking out of her hiding spot._

_"You think I'm...cool?" she inquired._

_"Well yeah! How many ten year olds can say they have a real talking cat in their house," he replied. _

_The female cat couldn't help but blush, thanking the gods that the dry mud covered it. _

_"So what's your name?" The kid asked, raising an eyebrow when the cat sat down and looked away from him. _

_"I.. don't know.. I can't remember anything from before," she admitted with a sad tone. Her eyes felt watery as she started to softly cry. All her life, the feline wanted to know why she was there, who she was._

The crying left her unaware of the child walking towards her. He kept at a slow pace, wanting to make sure that he didn't frighten the feline.

_After a few seconds, he found himself sitting down a few feet from her._

_The cat looked up, seeing the young boy's smile. When she did, it was like something calmed her down. She couldn't help but chuckle a bit at how goofy his grin was._

_"What's so funny?" He inquired, confused by the sudden change. _

_"Nothing... It's just... You have kind of a weird smile, I don't know why," she admitted. _

_The remark made him chuckle, remembering how some people said the same thing. Despite him hating them say that, he decided not to hold a grudge and just gave a chuckle of his own. _

_"So, what's your name?" she added, making the boy look back at her._

_"Rodin Clark."_

_The cat snickered once again, making Rodin raise an eyebrow._

"Weird name too.."

_"Is not!" He argued, getting closer to the feline._

_"Is too!" She retorted. _

_"Not!"_

_"Too!"_

_Both began to argue a bit, causing them start wrestling one another for a few minutes. At the end of it, they were laying on their backs, panting heavily and covered in dirt. _

_"Since you don't have a name, want me to give you one?" Rodin inquired, getting up from his spot. The feline looked up at him, wiping her brow. _

_"Long as it's not a weird one," she replied, getting up and making her way back to the bed. _

_The boy thought for a few minutes, trying to think of what name would be perfect for the feline. At one point, he even tried hitting his head to make his brain work. Finally, Rodin knew what name would be perfect for her. _

_"How about Trixie?"_

_The feline stopped right at the foot of the bed, turning over to give the boy a dumbfounded look. A few seconds later, she started thinking about it. While it wasn't the most elegant of names, it was simple and easy to remember._

_It was perfect._

_"Sure, why not? It's gotta be better than what the people in town call me," Trixie remarked. _

_Rodin jumped up with joy and went towards her, giving the feline a big hug. _

_At first, she struggled to get out of his grip by any means. Despite the claw cuts he got, Rodin didn't seem to mind and kept hugging._

_Eventually, the feline gave up and let him hug her. After a few seconds, she felt peaceful with it. Like it was something she never experienced before. _

_Though it soon came to pass when she felt something wet hit the top of her head. _

_Trixie looked up and saw the cheerful boy crying, trying his best not to sob. _

_Something inside of her made the feline open her arms and hug the boy back. When Trixie saw Rodin cry, it was almost like viewing a mirror to her past in the streets. _

_Despite not knowing who he was or why she was there, the feline swore he'd never cry again. From then on, the two became inseparable, becoming more than just partners. The two would become brother and sister, looking out for one another until death._

* * *

_**Present**_

Trixie's memory came to an end when she realized the meaning behind it. She was breaking the vow right now. The pain she was feeling didn't compare to seeing Rodin cry. The feline knew that she couldn't give up, and attempted to move with all her might.

Ryder heard the groans and turned his head, seeing the feline struggle. Her attempt was to inch towards him and try to fight by any means.

"Geez. You just don't know when to stay down do you?" He admitted, shaking his head in amusement. The Take-Over mage then lifted up his tail upward. He aimed right towards his opponent's head, hoping that this time. She'd stay down for good.

"Trixie!" Rodin roared out, making everyone laugh in amusement at his pain. Angela tried her best to calm him down, but to no avail.

"You better watch Dragon-Slayer!" Ryder declared, turning his head to view his enemy. "This is what happens when you screw with the Wild-Breaker's!"

With that final statement, the stinger propelled forward.

Time soon slowed down for everyone, especially for Trixie. All she could think of was the adventures Rodin and her took. All the laughs and pain that they went through.

The feline simply closed her eyes, wishing that she could still stay alive.

That prayer soon came answered.

From out of nowhere, a black ooze stretched from the side and latched onto Trixie. It pulled her away quickly, saving the feline from having her head split open.

Ryder looked over to where the ooze came from, making his eyes widen.

The ooze erupted from underground, and encased the feline in a cocoon. Tentacles manifested on the inside, attaching themselves to the feline. In seconds, it began to absorb what looked like purple light from her body. It soon drained the purple color from Trixie's fur and returned the white color.

"What the hell is that?!" Ryder yelled out, irritated by what was happening.

Rodin and Angela realized what it was, but couldn't believe their eyes.

"If those sons of bitches wanna play dirty, we can too," A voice declared.

The duo turned over to see Galvin, back in his normal uniform and magic. A small part of his outfit, mainly his arms, were missing.

"Galvin!" Both of his teammates exclaimed.

The bodyguard placed his finger against his lips before sinking into the ground.

After a few minutes, the cocoon began to break down, releasing the feline. When Trixie was free, it sank back through the cracks, disappearing from sight.

The Take-Over mage felt such a rage that his magic was erupting from his body.

"That damn bastard! When I get my hands on him-".

His tantrum stopped short when a fist collided with his cheek. The force from the attack flung him right into a wall. Upon impact, it cracked and spread before breaking down.

Ryder quickly managed to get back up, feeling blood drip from his mouth. He saw that Trixie was back on her feet, only with some of the black ooze covering parts of her body.

The feline looked up, glaring right at her opponent with anger.

"You're going to pay for what you did!" She declared, summoning out her wings.

People around the arena were in awe by what they saw. The feline's speed was almost like a blur to most, making it difficult to keep up.

The attention from the feline drew back to Ryder when he began to laugh. It started to turn from a simple laugh right into a hysterical one. A few audience members started shaking in fear from it.

"Now that was a punch! Finally, we might actually have a match!" He declared. With that statement, he propelled himself forward with Trixie following.

Both rushed towards each other once again. They mimicked the first move each of them did, and threw the same punch. Only this time, the shock-waves didn't stop.

Right when they collided, both disappeared in instances, reappearing all across the arena. People could only each both of them landing one hit after another on each other.

Their struggle to overpower the other took them up to the sky thanks to Trixie's wings. Each strike they did was like an explosion, echoing through the arena.

Angela looked in awe at how strong both of them were. She could keep up with their movements, but part of her knew the situation. Despite the spell having removed from her body, the feline was buckling. Each hit was like five punches due to the burns not healing.

Her train of thought stopped when there was another collision. This time, Ryder slammed down to the ground, landing on is back. The impact caused him to cough out a decent amount of blood.

Trixie couldn't let the opportunity pass and dive-bombed right at him. She drew her claws out and was about to try and cut him down. She was approaching him, getting closer and closer by the second.

Finding that now was the time, Ryder controlled his tail and lunged it forward. Trixie managed to barrel roll out of the way, but still felt the blade slice right at her side.

The feline slammed hard against the ground, tumbling until she reached the wall.

People saw how badly damaged both of them were, right down to their clothes. Nobody had any idea who would win this match.

After a few seconds passed, both fighters struggled and barley stood back up. The two knew that they were reaching their limits and had to end this with one shot.

Trixie then remembered something, her last chance to end this fight for good.

The feline began to channel her magic energy outward. A star-colored aura soon surrounded her, making Ryder raise his eyebrow in confusion.

"Wait.. She's not planning to use that is she?!" Rodin remarked, making Angela turn over to him.

"Use what?" She inquired.

"During our travel together," the Dragon-Slayer began to explain. "We came across someone who trained us for a while. The old guy taught us how to better use the magic we had and how to focus it. He taught us both a spell, but warned us to only use it if all else failed."

Right after he said that, Trixie roared out, causing an explosion of magic energy. The aura that surrounded her now looked almost like a blazing fire.

Even her opponent felt taken back by how much power she was producing.

"Why is it a bad thing?" Angela inquired.

"If either of us use the spell... We get hit with an ever harder blow-back."

The black-haired woman's eyes widened with fear, realizing what that meant for Trixie.

Ryder chuckled slightly at her display, finding it somewhat amusing.

"Fine, if that's how you wanna play. Better be ready to kill me," he declared with glee.

His own magic aura erupted in a similar manner as his opponent in front of him. Only instead, it began to take on a shape of what looked like a king-cobra.

"**King's Bellow.**"

The construct serpent hissed out before it flew right at the feline.

"**Star-Smash!**"

Trixie soon went soaring right at Ryder's spell. For everyone seeing her, she gave the appearance of a shooting star.

Both attacks drew closer and closer until finally, they collided with the snake biting into the comet.

A powerful explosion erupted upward, breaking through the ceiling itself. Pieces of it soon started to crumble down, causing everyone to yell out in fear. Thankfully, the arena's had special protection spells that kept it from falling onto them.

The force from the collision almost blew everyone off their seats. Though the people who took the bulk of it were Rodin and Angela, forcing them to drop down.

After the energy dissipated from the area, the winds began to calm down.

Smoke that covered the area escaped from the now open hole through the ceiling. When it disappeared, everyone saw how bad the damage truly was.

The entire arena cracked under the force of the explosion. Large chunks of rubble from the ceiling spread and broke off pieces of the ground. Even the walls where the audience was had large cracks and bits of it broken off.

Though everyone's eyes weren't on how bad the arena was. It was on the two lying figures on the floor.

Both Ryder and Trixie, returned to their normal forms, but unconscious.

* * *

_**What?! How can this be?! A shocking twist I know and hope it was a real twister for everyone. Thank you all for continuing your support with my story and continuing to read it as well. **_

_**References: Ryder's appearances from his normal to his Take-Over magic comes from two different places. His normal one is based off of Kurokiba from Shokugeki no Soma, which I highly recommend you read. His Take-over form is based from the character, Meruem, from Hunter X Hunter. The star-smash spell is based off the attack, Giga Impact, from Pokemon which is basically like a double edge sword. Also for those who are wondering how Galvin made it in time, I'll be sure to explain it in the next chapter.**_

_**Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter since we are finally reaching the climatic conclusion on this tournament. Hopefully, I'll have it ready soon. Until then, have a great weekend and enjoy yourselfs. Stay tuned for Chapter 23: Candor Exposure: Part 1. **_


	23. Tournament Gamble: Part VII

_**Chapter 23**_

_**Candor Exposure**_

_**Part I**_

* * *

_**Underground Arena**_

Where once the sounds of cheers and jeers echoed, silence invaded everyone's body. Only things anyone could hear was small pieces of the ceiling still falling off. And from the large gaping hole, few casino games echoed. The lightening embedded in the ceilings were flickering, causing few to black out and stop functioning, leaving the light from the hole to shine through.

The attention of the crowd wasn't focused on the damage of the hole. Their eyes kept looking on at the two unconscious fighters in the battlefield.

Both Trixie and Ryder found themselves lying face down side-by-side. The two of them had nothing but deep cuts across their bodies, a few bleeding. Despite the heavy beating, there appeared to be a smile on their faces. Almost as if the two found a sense of peace after the battle.

Rodin and Angela could only look on with widen eyes, especially the Dragon-Slayer. He wanted nothing more than to go see her, but knew he had to wait for the announcer.

It took a few seconds for the static of the speakers to return and capture the crowd.

"Alright folks! After discussing with the officials and reviewing, we have a decision. For the match-up between Trixie from Fairy Tail and Ryder from Wild-Breaker's. It is a draw!," the announcer declared.

With that single statement, the audience erupted into a flurry of rage for everyone. The reverberation of their voices shook the walls, leading to cracking from the hole.

While the crowd complained, the remaining Fairy Tail team went running towards their ally.

Rodin quickly skid and got to his knees, gently looking over his feline partner. He saw the horrible damage done to her, especially one of her paws broken.

"Crap... That doesn't look good," Angela muttered, going towards them to see how bad it was. "We gotta get to the doctor, he's the only one who can save her."

The Dragon-Slayer heard her words and slowly pulled the feline into his arms. Trying his best not to move the damaged arm, he jogged out of the arena with Angela following.

After the two left, a figure appeared over the unconscious body of Ryder. It grabbed his legs and began to drag it to parts unknown. Meanwhile, the two remaining partners of the scam found themselves at an impasse.

* * *

**_Marsh Booth_**

"_An easy mark, we'll have our hands on the money soon_... I believe those were the words you promised, Lord Marsh," Joshi recalled. With a glass in hand, his attention focused on his employer. Though his current predicament made the masked-man shake his head with shame.

Duke Marsh was on the ground, holding his now burned arm in pain. The smoke still emanated from the arm, indicating it was only burned recently. Which ruined his current outfit.

He was breathing heavily, trying to drag himself as far as he could from the mage.

"You..you can't blame me... I... I didn't-"

"Didn't what?!" Joshi yelled, throwing his drink against the wall. The shattering glass went across the room."You picked the damn bastards! You convinced them to join with that bitch and your bodyguard! Everything is your fault!"

The Duke stopped when he heard his employee begin to walk towards him. Before Marsh could do anything, the masked-man kicked him hard in the face. Blood spilled to the carpet, along with what looked like a tooth.

Once he was on his back, Joshi stepped right on the burned arm, twisting on it every second.

Bloodcurdling screams echoed through the room, which was soundproof for the owner's protection. Before the masked-man could break it, his employer made one final plea.

"Please! We still got- Ahhh! A chance, I swear! AHHHH!"

Curiosity caused Joshi to stop his twisting and lifted his leg off the burned arm. Marsh quickly held it tight against his chest, softly sobbing in pain.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" he inquired, summoning up his black-flames once more. If Marsh didn't come up with something, he'd lose the arm for good.

"The bombs!" The Duke replied without hesitation. "We still got all the Lacrima bombs in the entire arena. All you have to do is go and fight, keep the poor fools distracted. While that happens, I can grab the money and trigger the explosions."

The flames from the masked-man's body began to calm down, a sign of interest. Despite knowing that Marsh would run off with the money. Joshi wanted to first make sure Everyone knew the power of Wild-Breaker.

"Interesting... And without the worthless bodies I had with me. That'll double my cut... Alright. Do it, but remember Marsh," he added. "If you even think about trying to swindle me, I'll do more than torch a part of your arm."

The Duke could only nod in agreement.

With that last threat, the masked-man began walking away, exiting through the door. When it got slammed shut, small vibrations shook the bottles. One in particular fell down, landing right on a large rag without breaking.

Finally alone, Marsh stood up and walked to the bar.

Noticing the bottle that was there, he opened it and drank it all in seconds. Some of it splashed onto the remains of his outfit. After it was empty, the Duke threw it at the glass, breaking both at the same time.

"No more... I'm going to make sure all you worthless piles of filth Never leave..." he muttered in a venomous tone. He wiped the blood from his jaw with a rag. The man walked away, exiting the room and making his way towards the vault.

Marsh's last bit of sanity left him, leaving only a broken man with a deadly ambition.

* * *

**_Meanwhile_**

Deep in the labyrinth of the arena, the sounds of dragging echoed through the area. Lit torches gave the view of **Ryder**, who was still unconscious from the battle. Only now, he was inside a similar cocoon that Trixie was in.

The figure dragging a long rope around it had on a hood, making it difficult to identify.

Before long, two new figures came walking towards the person. Light from the torches revealed it to be **Adrian Clark** and his partner. Both had their masks on when they approached the cloaked person.

"Is this the last one?" The wolf-mask man inquired, walking over to investigate the cocoon.

"Just about, which leaves only Joshi..." The figure remarked.

"No." Adrian commented, making both of them turn towards him. "The final match-up has to happen, boss's orders."

"Since when do you ever obey the boss?" The hooded-man inquired with surprise in his tone.

Adrian's partner accepted that it was the right person and stood up. His attention focused on the hooded person.

"The Dragon-Slayer who's fighting is his whelp," he mocked.

After hearing that, the figure quickly pulled down his cloak, revealing Galvin as the last member of the trio.

The former bodyguard had regained his **Membrane Magic** outfit, having the mask on. Only this time, there was a white spider that covered the front of the mask.

"Are you serious?" The black-suited man asked, shocked by the information he just received. "Damn it... You can't actually be thinking of recruiting him?!"

The wolf-masked person turned around, looking on with what felt like confusion.

"Since when do you care about the kid?" He inquired, intrigued by the growing change Rodin had on others.

"He's not like any of us and you know it. Why the hell would the boss want him to join up with the Specters?" Galvin remarked.

"The boss wants him, we don't ask questions. Geez, that detail with the spoiled rich brat soften you up, didn't it?" The wolf-masked male mocked.

Galvin was about to pull back his cloak to draw his weapon, but stopped when a heavy slam against the floor stopped him. The two turned over to see a dark aura on Adrian, making them stop their arguing.

Silence was Adrian's answer as he grab Ryder's prison. Dragging it over to where the other two were. Inside them were the other defeated mages from Wild-Breaker, Amlabih and Vira. Both had bandages wrapped around them after their individual fights.

"It's best that we drop this now, come on," Adrian remarked. He stopped and turned his head slightly to look over at the former-bodyguard. "And you'd best keep your mouth shut Galvin. Don't forget, it was me who found your precious slime and attached it to you."

After the remark, the wolf-masked person grabbed Vira, leaving Adrian to grab Amilabih. Leaving Ryder to Galvin, who saw the duo part ways and head on separate paths.

The bodyguard sighed with annoyance as the black wrapping soon shot up towards his arm. It attached itself to the suit and allowed Galvin to drag it with ease.

In his mind, all he could think of was whether his ally would survive the fight or not. The bodyguard knew that Marsh had a contingency plan in case everything backfired. Though it tore him apart to think that he couldn't do a thing to help.

All the man could do was go on and hope that somehow, Rodin would bring victory to his team.

* * *

_**Medical**** Room**_

"Goodness... I don't know whether you all love to make me work or if you're cursed," the doctor remarked.

After having picked up Trixie and taken her back to the medical room. Rodin and Angela found themselves looking at their now severely bandaged teammate. The two were sitting on Galvin's old bed, looking on as the doctor continued his work.

Where once was only small wrappings now had on large ones that wrapped all over her body. Her face didn't have any to allow her to breath, but both her ears had quite a bit of wrapping. The worst part of her body was her left paw, which was in a cast, caused by the impact of the punch.

After cutting off one loose bandage, the Doctor finished and wiped the sweat off his brow. He then turned over to Rodin, who looked at him with worry in his eyes.

"Alright... I've managed to keep all the serious injuries under control so she's stable for the moment. Though I must insist that she take it easy for the next month, which means no more fighting Or missions. Understood?"

The Dragon-Slayer nodded, standing up to shake the man's hand before he took his leave. With bag in one hand, the Doctor waved goodbye and walked out the door.

Silence entered the room as the duo walked over to the feline, making sure that she was okay.

Angela looked over to see her teammate sigh in frustration. She then noticed that his hand was shaking with rage. Before the black-haired woman could say anything, the hand broke through the wall.

"Damn it... Shit man," he muttered, trying his best to keep himself under control. Rodin felt a sense of guilt wash over him, remembering how his partner asked him to give her a chance. He knew that it was a bad idea, but wanted to put faith in Trixie. Now, the Dragon-Slayer felt helpless and didn't know what to do.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened," his teammate's voice declared. He turned over, having a calm look on her face. "She asked you to let her fight, you couldn't have known it would turn out like this."

Rodin's eyes hid in shadows, thinking over what she said. A part of him knew that she was right. Though despite that, he couldn't help but feel guilty for all that happened.

The Dragon-Slayer looked back to his partner, seeing her softly breath while in bed. Somehow, he could almost hear her nagging him, saying the same thing Angela said. It made chuckle a bit and smile.

"You're right," he remarked before giving the black-haired woman a determined look. "We've got one final match up because of Trixie. I can make it up to her And Galvin by winning this thing."

"Damn right you can," the black-haired woman remarked, almost giving a mocking tone.

The speakers clicked on, catching their attention as the feedback started coming in. When it stopped, an announcement declared.

"Alright folks! The final break of this tournament is officially over! We will be moving on to the final match up between the Team Leaders!" He declared.

After the speakers turned off, Rodin cracked his knuckles and his neck to get ready.

"I better get out there," he remarked and began to walk out. Before opening the door, the Dragon-Slayer turned his head to view Angela. "Keep an eye on her please."

Angela was a bit surprised to hear the request, never expecting him to ask her such a favor. A part of her wanted to break down in tears of joy, while another wanted to go up and hug him. All she could do was nod in reply, making Rodin smile and leave the room.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, the feline had regained consciousness not too long ago. The words she heard made a smile grow on her face, happy that her victory would now drive her partner to win.

Though she was unaware of the true danger that lurked.

* * *

_**Hi everyone, I know this is much shorter than any of the other chapters I've done, but didn't want to leave without at least posting something. I will not be available for about a week. I will be heading out for a long rest and relaxation. Hopefully it will also give me back my inspiration and help me dish out more chapters. I will be back by next Sunday so hope you can all endure this daring cliffhanger until then. Take care and have a blessed week. **_


	24. Tournament Gamble: Part VIII

_**Chapter 24**_

_**Candor Exposure**_

_**Part II**_

* * *

_**Underground Arena**_

The atmosphere of the arena wasn't like the last few matches before. Everyone could only look on and whisper, wondering how the finale would turn out to be. Some believed that Fairy Tail's rise in luck would win them the tournament. Others thought that the Wild Breaker's would end it all with ease.

Nobody knew the danger all attending were actually in, leaving them blissfully ignorant.

Static echoed through the silent crowd as they all looked over to where the announcer was.

"Thank you all for your patience! Now that all final bets are now placed, we will now begin the final match-up. First off, from Fairy Tail, the 2nd Dragon Slayer to have joined. Give it up for **Rodin Clark!**"

The lights dimmed with only one spotlight shining down to one side of the arena. Standing in it was Rodin, who had a look of determination plastered on his face. Despite having always been the underdogs, there wasn't any torment from the audience. Even those who bet against the team found themselves only looking on in silence.

_"Well, ain't this a surprise?" _Rodin thought to himself, looking around at the people. He cracked his knuckles one last time before making his way towards the battlefield.

"Now for his opponent! The legendary masked-mage of Wild-breaker's and team-leader, give it up for **Joshi!**"

A powerful explosion from the other side caused the audience to yell out in shock. The black flames scarred the ground, almost like it was laying out a carpet for their master. From the darkness, Joshi came out and made his own way to the arena.

The Dragon-Slayer could feel a deep brooding aura around him, almost like his rage was rising. The air around him distorted due to the intense flames, making it almost look like the space shook with fear.

Both opponents found themselves staring at one another. They each charged their magic energy, causing the ground beneath them to shake. The ripples from the vibration went across the entire area. Hitting not just the audience, but making even the ceiling lights shake.

Their energy slowly calmed down, causing the shaking to stop. Joshi's flames died down as well, making the space around him cool down.

"Well, I must admit. Your rag-tag team actually surprised me, and that doesn't happen," the masked-man remarked.

"Fairy Tail's fun that way, unlike your legion of thugs," Rodin snarked. The remark made Joshi chuckle slightly, amused by the Dragon Slayer's cockiness.

"Kid, you're a long way from making those kinds of statements. Especially when there's little to no chance you'll win this."

"Say that when I drag that mask of your's right through the mud."

The two began charging up their energy once more, wanting more than anything to begin the match.

"Alright, let's see if you have bite with that puny bark!"

Right out of the gate, Joshi rushed forward, scooping up what looked like some dirt from the floor. Getting closer in range, he threw it right into Rodin's eyes, scoring a direct hit.

The Dragon-Slayer couldn't see due to it mashing against his eyes. Before he could do anything, a powerful hit in his privates almost caused him to buckle. Though it stopped when his opponent delivered a powerful punch right into the stomach. The impact was strong enough to make him skid backwards a few feet.

Joshi's cruel tactics didn't stop there. Focusing some of his flames in one hand. The masked-mage condensed it and released the blast right at his face. Upon impact, the Dragon-Slayer yelled out in pain, feeling the intense heat of the spell.

A few audience members winced at the sight, almost feeling sorry for the poor mage. The others simply laughed at his misfortune, ordering more drinks to guzzle down.

Joshi kept the attack going, but didn't understand why he wasn't dropping down. His answer came when Rodin released his **Stone Dragon's Roar**. The blast pushed off the spell until it collided right against Rodin's opponent, exploding.

The full force of the attack threw the masked man back a few feet, slamming him to the wall. It didn't take too long to get back on his feet, looking over to his opponent.

The smoke from his head started to clear up, until everyone could see what happened. Rodin's whole body was now coated with his **Stone-Dragon Scales**.

Joshi growled, annoyed by the development and stood back up.

"You prick," the Dragon-Slayer remarked with irritation. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Someone like you can't beat me without resorting to cheap attacks."

"Long as I win, who cares how," the masked-man spat, focusing his flames once again. Another beam blast shot out, aiming once more at Joshi's opponent. This time, Rodin threw a punch to collide with it. Upon impact, both the fist and spell struggled against one another.

The masked-mage attempted to pour in more magic, making the beam stronger. With the boost, Rodin's struggle was becoming one-sided with each passing second. Knowing that he needed an edge, the Dragon-Slayer had to buy himself some time. Focusing his magic, two stone-spikes manifested from his heels.

Both pierced the ground, causing his body to halt instantly.

Joshi started growling, pouring even more power into his blast, giving Rodin the opening.

Using his empty hand, the Dragon-Slayer transformed it into a club with the mace at the end of it. It was different from his two initial spells, but had both characteristics. He moved it back and swung, making his magic expand it.

"**Stone-Dragon's Mace Club!**"

Without realizing it, Joshi soon found himself getting hit on the side by the attack. Upon impact, it slammed the masked-mage and sent him flying once again into a wall. With his concentration gone, the flame beam disappeared, though it left it's mark.

The arm that Rodin punched the beam with no longer had the scales protecting it, leaving part of it burned. He didn't have time to worry about the pain though.

Wanting to keep up the momentum, he dislodge the spikes from his heels and dashed towards the wall. Focusing his magic through both arms, he transformed one arm into his sword. Stopping, Rodin aimed it right where Joshi was and channeled magic through the blade.

"**Stone-Dragon's Salvo!**"

From the first sword, a flurry of projectile blades went flying. Each one as sharp as the first, they hit their target, causing the wall to crumble.

Rodin stopped the attack, waiting for the smoke to clear out of the way. He wanted to see if it had any effect.

"Not bad, you almost got me."

A leg connected with the side of the Dragon-Slayer's head. The hit threw him right into the ground, making him tumble a few feet away.

Rodin's vision was a bit disoriented when he tried to get back up. Everything around him was blurry, making it difficult to see who attacked him. Managing to get back on his feet, he turned to see a figure, but didn't see the attack fired.

It managed to hit him right at the chest, making the Dragon-Slayer roar out in pain. Despite having his scale defense, it only managed to stop the heat from burning him alive.

The blast disbursed, but followed up with a powerful flurry of attacks. Each one connected hard, breaking off another piece of his scales. The last attack was an uppercut that knocked him flat on his back and broke off his armor.

A bit of blood dripped down Rodin's cheek as he tried to breath air. His vision came back to normal, making him see that it was Joshi. Only now, he had a different look.

His clothes were now merged with his own fire, almost like he embodied it entirely. Small flickers of flame spread through his clothes, making him almost look demonic. Especially his mask, which was now all black with white symbols on it.

"**Blaze Body**, quite a handy spell for this sort of fight, wouldn't you say?" The masked-mage mocked.

Rodin was about to say something, but only coughed out blood from another hit he took. His opponent had made a fist, which burned with black flames, and slammed it against his stomach. The pain was intense, even with his durable body.

Rodin was about to say something, but only coughed out blood from another hit he took. His opponent had made a fist, which burned with black flames, and slammed it against his stomach. The burning pain was intense, even with his durable body.

Joshi didn't stop with that as he grabbed the Dragon-Slayer's hair. He forced him back onto his feet, then head-butted the bridge of his nose.

The Dragon-Slayer yelled out in pain, feeling like he broke it. Though despite the hard hit, his durability was stronger and it only left a bruise.

"Wow, such a hard-head. Too bad, you would've made a strong mage, but alas, I must kill-".

Right before he could finish his sentence, Rodin took in a quick breath of air. After holding it in, he released his roar at close-range, landing a hard hit against Joshi. The attack forced the masked-mage to let his opponent go, which lead to another attack.

The Dragon-Slayer turned his foot into a club to swing. When it collided with his opponent's body, the impact echoed through the area. Some of the audience even groaned in pain when they heard it.

He sent his opponent skidding backwards. Who stopped when there was a good distance between them.

Despite his new form, even Joshi wasn't invulnerable and felt that heavy rock slam hard. It caused him to cough out blood of his own, which dripped down from the bottom of his mask.

Both of them now had wounds on each of their bodies from one another. They knew now where they stood and how strong the other was.

In some twisted sense, they couldn't help but smile at the excitement of the battle. Before the two of them could begin the real battle, the speakers suddenly turned on. There was a few seconds of static from them and from the video on the screen.

After both stopped, everyone's eyes widen with shock by who they saw on the big screen. Especially Rodin, who didn't want to believe what his eyes were seeing.

On the screen, was Duke Marsh, covered in blood with some on his face.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," he began. "This is turning out to be one incredible match against two powerful mages. It's too bad there isn't a winner."

The audience began to look at one another, murmuring and whispering about what he meant.

"You see, there was no tournament to begin with, just like there was no underground arena. All this will become a dead graveyard right now, thanks to this."

He lifted his hand and showed a Lacrima that fit right in his hand. Swiping the gem, it turned red, causing glowing around the arena. Everyone saw a large amount of bombs wired across the arena, ceiling, and seats.

"I will making sure No one leaves and be taking quite the fortune, courtesy of Venture Town's Elite. Oh and Joshi, I leave you with the knowledge that your _Pawn _has stolen your money and killed you."

With that last statement, the screen went black and the hum of the bombs began to echo. With that, everyone yelled out in fear and made their way towards the exits. Some found themselves trampled and knocked unconscious. Others managed to escape, but only to get stuck trying to leave.

"Shit! They're live!" Rodin yelled out. He slammed hard against the floor, getting a sense of how many bombs there were. Fear flashed before his eyes as he saw the entire arena had them. Even down to the lower levels.

Before he could tell Joshi, the Dragon-Slayer felt an erupting aura explode behind him. The heat made him cover his face, trying to keep it from burn his eyes out.

"**That two-time piece of garbage shit! HOW DARE HE TRY AND CUT ME?!**" The masked-mage bellowed out in fury. Focusing the flames through his body, he managed to propel himself upward. In one burst, Joshi flew upward, crashing through the ceiling itself.

"Damn it! I gotta get to-"

"Rodin!" a familiar voice yelled out, making him turn over to see Angela running towards him. On her back was Trixie, who was still appeared unconscious. The black-haired woman managed to make a backpack using sheets and carried the feline.

"Are you two okay?" Rodin inquired, going over to her to see his partner.

"We're fine, but those bombs are gonna be a problem. I found one and tried to disarm it, but no go," she remarked.

"Shit, and we got people just crashing against one another. Not to mention some that got knocked out!"

"How are we gonna save them all?!"

The question echoed in Rodin's mind as he tried to think of some way to escape with everyone. The more he thought, the more time began to slow down. All that he could hear was the slow hum of the bombs, leaving him without a single thought.

"I... I don't..." was all he could get out, leaving Angela looking on with fear. There was no time to save them all and even if he tried, it was likely he'd die in the explosion.

The Stone-Dragon Slayer couldn't help but feel helpless to do anything.

"Hey! Don't piss your pants just yet!" a voice yelled out, making the duo turn to see who it was.

Galvin and his allies appeared, looking upon the small group and walking over to them.

When the former bodyguard got close enough, he gripped Rodin's shirt and pulled him in.

"Don't you dare give such a face! That's not the face I know when you fought those bandits. You're better than that, so stop being afraid and get it together."

The pep-talk from Galvin snapped Rodin out of his fear, making him realize that he was right. He wasn't just a mage, he was a Fairy Tail Mage. They never gave up on anything, even when it seemed hopeless, and he wasn't gonna be the first.

"Look, the main targets are Marsh and Joshi, they're the ones you have to focus on," Adrian remarked. "We can handle evacuation, you just get up there and get those bastards."

Rodin looked up and saw the hole where Joshi crashed through. While there was a clear path to the casino above, he wouldn't be able to reach that height.

"It's not like I can sprout wings, my partner's still out of it," he remarked.

"Not a problem, I've got enough muscle for one good toss," Galvin remarked. He focused his **Membrane Magic** and transformed once again into the hulking beast.

Before he would fly above the celing, the Dragon-Slayer needed to ask.

"Why are you doing this? This was our fight, what do you get out of it?" he inquired, looking over to the dragon-masked person. All he did was exhale air.

"Let's just say, this will be the last time we see each other kid. Call it whatever you want," he remarked.

Rodin glared for a bit, but knew he wasn't gonna get anymore out of him. He looked back to Galvin and nodded, causing the large bodyguard to grab him.

"Angela," he remarked, making her turn to him. "Get out of here alive, and keep her safe."

The statement echoed in the black-haired mage's mind, only to stop when Galvin grunted.

With all his might, the former bodyguard threw the Dragon-Slayer high as he could.

All that was on Rodin's mind while he flew was the faces of his allies. Each one of them gave their hardest to help him make it this far. And he knew that it was up to him to end this once and for all.

"Get ready Joshi, I'm coming for you." was the last thing he muttered before disappearing from view as he entered the hole.

Nobody would be ready for what was about to come, and for both Joshi and Marsh, their world was going to crumble down.

* * *

_**Venture Town**_

_**Outside**_

_**Early Morning**_

Since the start of the tournament, time still continued above the arena. From when the teams entered, it was still pitch black with only the lights of the casino's on. Now, the streets were more empty than a hollow castle. The only lights still flashing were a few casino's that stayed open twenty-four hours a day.

Soon enough, alarms echoed through the empty streets, catching the attention of everyone. Most turned over to where the casino was, seeing many of its customers evacuating.

In the crowd, Duke Marsh found himself blending in with the others like he was a normal person. Instead of wearing his bloody clothes, he now took on a causal look and cloak.

He looked behind him, making sure no one was following him and continued on. The man had a devious smile on his face, expecting that his careful scheme to have gone without a hitch.

After detaching from the crowd, he made his way into an alley. Right when he did, a large explosion emanated from the casino he just escaped from. The Duke looked over, seeing black flames break through the windows.

Within seconds, the entire building found itself consumed by the intense flames. From the entrance, a shadowy figure emerged, making it's way out into the open.

Marsh felt a cold sweat, realizing that it was Joshi that set the entire casino ablaze. Before the masked-mage could detect him, the Duke made a run for it.

Racing through different alleyways, the man fled for his life. He knew that if Joshi captured him, he'd kill him instantly. His only chance was to make it to a special escape tunnel he built in the poor section of the town.

His road had a few bumps due to some of the alleys leading to a dead-end. Though thanks to the intense explosions from Joshi's spells, his motivation made him faster.

Eventually, he found himself in an abandon section of the poor area. All around him were broke-down buildings with cracked windows and dirt. Marsh had to stop for a second, trying his best to take in air into his burning lungs.

That single stop was his first mistake as an explosion triggered, sending him flying. From behind, Joshi's spell reduced a few houses to nothing more than rubble.

The masked-mage walked through the rubble, looking forward as he saw Marsh. He struggled to get up, feeling intense pain from the shock-wave of the explosion. Each time, he fell and only managed to crawl a few meters.

"You know Marsh, there are two kinds of people in this world," Joshi began talking. "There's the kind who take command and control, then there's those who serve and obey."

While he continued explaining, the masked-mage walked forward casually, almost like things were calm. Each step brought him closer and closer to his target, who kept attempting to flee.

"I'll admit, you screwed me. That took Some balls, big balls actually. Though I really wish you'd just took your lumps and given me what I was due."

After that statement, Joshi finally reached the Duke, and slammed his foot down on him. The pain from his burns caused Marsh to yell out. He attempted to struggle out from under the masked-mage's heel, but couldn't escape.

"Now here we are, same place I had you before the last round. Well this time, I'm gonna make sure everything you stole will be mine," he remarked. Moving on his hand forward, he began to charge his magic into another black flame orb.

"Don't worry, you won't live long enough to cry about it," was the last thing Joshi declared. The blast finally filled his entire palm, and was about to fire upon Duke Marsh.

Time seemed to slow down for everyone, leaving only the sounds of the charging energy to echo. In that single moment, there was only the last few seconds until the spell was ready.

Though as if on cue, a powerful roaring voice echoed out a name, causing time to continue on like normal.

"**JOSHIII!**"

In a matter of seconds, Joshi turned around and found his mask pushing against his face. Right then and there, Rodin had finally caught up to the two of them. And delivered a strong punch right into his enemy.

The impact echoed as it sent the masked-mage flying into another empty house. Crashing through the door, the blast from the spell released, breaking apart the roof. With it gone, the entire home broke down and landed on top of him.

Over to where the other two were, Rodin was breathing heavily with sweat dropping down his face. He showed to have some black smog plastered on his face due to the fire. The jacket he was wearing had burnt patches on it.

After he managed to escape the burning casino, the Dragon-Slayer used his **Stone-Sensing**. Along with the path of destruction, it allowed him to find his way to where Joshi and Marsh were.

A voice snapped Rodin out of his trance on the pile of rubble where Joshi was under.

"Th-th-thank...you... "the Duke stuttered, looking with fearful eyes at his former employee.

"Screw you," Rodin remarked coldly, walking over to Marsh. He grabbed the back of his ruined cloak and pulled him back to make him sit up.

"Don't think that you're getting out of this scott-free after the crap you pulled-"

Before he could finish the threat, another powerful blast fired from underneath the rubble. It burnt it away in an instant, leaving only the masked-mage behind. He looked over to where his opponent was, revealing a now cracked mask.

"You are just one freaking irritating piece of shit!" Joshi roared out, walking out into the stone path. After that, he glared at the Dragon-Slayer, who had his own look of rage.

"What the hell are you even still here for?! Don't you get?! There was no reward, no request, no crisis, Nothing! You got played like the worthless loser you are, so why don't you just get lost already?!"

When the masked-mage stopped bellowing, the entire area gained a brooding silence. The only sounds were the wind and heavy breathing coming from both sides. It soon broke when Rodin picked up a loose brick next to his feet. He took a bite into it, eating it and continued until he finished it off.

After swallowing, he exhaled a breath of relief before looking back to his enemy. His eyes now calmed and now filled with determination.

"I'm not going to let you and this shit-stain get away with your crime," the Dragon-Slayer began. "Galvin, Angela, and Trixie... My teammates gave it everything to win the matches we went through. They ended up hurt worse than anyone, all to get me to the last match. I'm not gonna let their sacrifice be in vain."

Silence once again filled the area after the fairy mage's speech. Within a few seconds, it broke once again when Joshi began to snicker, leading to chuckles. After a few seconds, the masked-mage broke out in a hysteric laughter that echoed. Eventually, he calmed down and cracked his knuckles, getting ready to finish this ordeal.

"Fine... You want this worthless match? Bring it then," Joshi goaded with flames emerging around him.

Rodin's aura started to grow, causing his entire body to glow his magic energy color. He knew now that there was only one final way to end this. With the images of his teammates passing through his mind. The Dragon-Slayer took his stance.

Both mages now had looks of ferocity and determination in their minds and bodies. Only one was going to win. With one last shout from both of them, they dashed right at one another, pulling back their fists.

Right when they got in each other's range, they threw the punch at the same time.

* * *

_**Hey there everyone, Sorry for taking so long to continue the chapter, had to deal with some issues that came up at home. Not to mention that I am starting to get ready to head back to school as well. Due to the difficult classes I will be having, my update times will be less than usual. I know I know, but I will be writing when I have free time so I will not just ignore the story. I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter, despite it being a bit shorter than normally. Only one more chapter to go before we end this arc so keep reading. Thank you all for your support, please be sure to leave a review, I am always in need of feedback. and I hope you all enjoy the last days of your vacation. Stayed tuned for Chapter 25: Candor Exposure - Part III**_


	25. Tournament Gamble: Part IX

_**Chapter 25**_

**_Candor Exposure_**

**_Part III_**

**_Alrighty ladies and gentlemen, We now arrive at the epic final battle that's sure to make everyone shake in their boots. I will be posting an epilogue after this before I return to school. Also an announcement, the next arc will be a filler to gradually bring the story into the Tower of Heaven Arc. Although Rodin's one of the main characters, the filler will focus on the surprise that I will reveal so hope you're ready. Alright, let's get on with the carnage, enjoy._**

**_Lastly, I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters._**

* * *

_**Venture Town**_

_**Abandon Section**_

The dawn slowly found its way across half the town, signaling the start of a new day. Though the rest of the town, especially the fabled abandoned district, stayed hidden. In the area, large parts of the unfinished building projects stood hollow. Most of the framework only had large pillars standing, covered with dust. Others didn't even have foundation, leaving only large sections of land.

With the initial rise in money with the casinos, construction left the more needy areas. Now what only stood was a forgotten reminder of what could've been.

Although now, it would serve a new purpose as the area began shaking violently. Near one of the construction sites, the vibrations shook aggressively. In an instant, a massive explosion erupted, bringing down everything around it.

The dust covered the hole what seemed like ages until one figure climbed out of it. After passing through, the person was none other than **Angela**, who had a large amount of dust on her body. She coughed, trying to get some out of her lungs. After checking to make sure that her feline companion wasn't harmed, she turned back to the hole.

Three more figures jumped out, landing a few feet away from her as they cleaned themselves off. It showed to be **Galvin** along with his two companions, **Adrian Clark**, and the man with the wolf-mask. The trio finished dusting themselves off as Adrian, still in his disguise, walked over.

Placing his palm on the ground, it glowed brightly, causing the ground itself to move. In a matter of seconds, the giant hole was now filled and back to normal.

"I still can't believe we managed to tunnel our way out, even with all those people," she remarked. The black-haired woman couldn't help but remember how incredible the masked men were.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Arena**_

_"Damn it! This isn't good, not one bit!" Angela yelled out, trying her best to stay standing. She looked over her shoulder and found the feline still attached, thanking the gods. _

_With Duke Marsh's trigger activated, there was only a limited amount of time for them. If they didn't evacuate soon, the entire cavern would fall right onto them. Though their choices were scarce at best. _

_With half of the audience unconscious and the other half crowding the exits. There wasn't much she or her companions could do. _

_"Ha!" The wolf-mask man scoffed, making the girl turn to him and glare. He opened his cloak, reaching into one of the inner pockets. After a few seconds, he pulled what looked like a deck of cards. They showed to be blank cards with gray details on the back. "Not exactly the brightest one, are you?" _

_The black-haired woman tightened her first in rage. She wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk that she knew he had under the mask. Luckily, Galvin stepped in front of her, placing his hand on the woman's shoulder. _

_"Ignore him, he's just a prick, but he has a plan," he remarked. _

_"Indeed I do," he replied before throwing the cards high in the air. They scattered and began to float, each one spinning in a different direction. "You got our escape route planned?"_

_The attention now went to his ally, who placed two of his fingers on the ground. Both Galvin and Angela couldn't tell what he was doing, but all they could was wait and see. After a few seconds, the masked-man stood up and walked over to a nearby wall. He placed a hand on it and looked back._

_"I can make the tunnel long enough to escape the blast. Get everyone, now!" he ordered. _

_His companion scoffed, extended his arm and pointing out two fingers forward. When he did, the cards stopped spinning and all lined up together. _

_"**Collect."**_

_After speaking that single word, the cards flew outward, multiplying into even more cards. Each one landed on a single unconscious person, and then an aura enveloped them. Within seconds, the bodies disappeared instantly into the cards themselves._

_The once-blank cards now carried a single person in them, either unconscious or conscious. Before long, the cards started returning, housing all audience members that attended. By the time most of them returned, the wolf-masked male had three piles in his hands. _

_"Alright, got them all. Now we just need-"_

_Before he could finish, a large rumbling shook the arena. The force of it almost caused the ceiling bombs to fall down. When it stopped, everyone turned around to find that a large cavern was now formed. Complements of Adrian, who wiped his hands on his cloak. _

_"Alright, let's go!" Galvin remarked, running into it with his fellow companions going after. Before Angela could say anything, the hums of the bombs started getting louder_

_Before she know it, the black-haired woman's feet already got her into the cave. The further in they went, the darker it started to become. Knowing that she needed a light, Angela summoned only her aura to light the way. _

_A booming explosion echoed in the make-shift cavern, making the woman turn her head. She soon saw the firey explosions coming._

_"Move! Now!" _

_Her bark made the others turn and realize what was coming. They mustered the strength and poured magic into their legs. Doing this, the group almost broke the sound barrier, running with everything they had. _

_Adrian turned his head and saw that the explosion wasn't stopping. He knew that there was only one chance to stop it. He skid to a halt and rushed towards it. He stopped and slammed both his palms into the ground, causing a wall of stone to shoot up. _

_When it collided, the wall soon started cracking across it. The force behind the explosion was incredible, almost like taking a punch from a steel hand. Though despite the power, Adrian kept it together and held his construct. _

_After a few seconds, the blast eventually died down, making the rumbling stop along with it. The only thing that echoed was the heavy breathing most of them were doing, especially Adrian. _

_The man pushed off from the ground, feeling incredible pain coursing through his arms. Despite that, the dragon-masked man looked over to the others, giving them a nod. _

_Now that the danger was over, they had to focus on finding a way out of there and back outside._

* * *

**_Present_**

After recalling the recent events, she looked around to get her bearings of the area. Before anything, a powerful explosion echoed through the area. Black light shined upward, causing the group to turn their attention to it. In mere seconds, another pillar of fire erupted with a second explosion.

A powerful gust of wind blew by, causing them to cover their eyes for protection. When it died down, they lowered their arms and looked on. Even without being near the site, both Galvin and Angela recognized the magic energy.

"Whoa... Is that really..."Galvin asked in awe.

"I think so.." Angela replied, amazed by how much power Rodin was pouring out. It wasn't nearly as strong like when they battled, but it reached around those heights.

"...Impressive." was the only word Adrian spoke up. Secretly, he wished that his son hadn't gained that much power, especially now. Though all he could was just pray and wait.

"...Rodin...What a show..off," A voice spoke out, making them all turn towards the source. From the pouch, Trixie finally woke up, trying her best to get out of the death-trap she was in. Without hesitation, the black-haired woman untied the knot around her chest. She then knelt down, allowing the feline to slide off and land on the ground.

Though when she did, a sharp pain jabbed her entire body. It was too strong for her, causing Trixie to fall on her knees.

"Are you okay?" Angela inquired, going over to check on the feline. All she got was a wave of her hand, insinuating that everything was alright.

"It'll take more than a little pain to put me down," Trixie remarked, getting back on her feet. She attempted to prove this by walking one step.

For all the tough talk, her small body gave the lie away. Even without showing it, the feline's legs were shaking, struggling to keep herself upward. Not only that, she grit her teeth, trying her best to move forward, only to stop and catch her breath.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Angela remarked with shock. The feline attempted to take another step, only to fall down on both her knees.

"Where..do you think... I'm going?" Trixie retorted, breathing heavily between words. "That idiot needs me...I have to cheer...him...on."

The black-haired woman focused and called up **Shatterpoint** through both her palms. She pressed them against the feline, surrounding the feline with a blue aura. When she did, Trixie started feeling the pain lessen, giving her the chance to stand up again.

"You can't go in your condition Trixie," Angela objected, seeing her ally try to get up again. Even with the healing, the feline still struggled to keep herself from falling.

"No, I have to... I don't care if every bone in my body breaks! He never left my side, I won't leave his!" She yelled out. By the third step, Trixie found herself falling flat on her face, panting from the walk.

All Angela could do was look on with surprise on her face. It was the first time she truly say anyone struggle towards another. In the time she spent with her father, nobody ever cared about her that much. Inside, the black-haired woman couldn't help but feel envious.

_"You're one lucky guy Rodin, hope you realize that," _she thought in her mind. Knowing that there wasn't any chance for the feline to walk all the way there, her ally decided to help.

Trixie's face kept falling back into the ground each time, making it more difficult for her to see. Before she failed yet again, the feline felt someone grab her body. A hand wiped the caked-on dirt, allowing her to see Angela, smiling.

"You're too pig-headed for your own good," she remarked with a teasing tone. Before the feline could spit out a comeback, she found herself placed into another pouch. Only now, this one only wrapped around her waist, keeping Trixie from falling off. "The least I can do is carry you, seeing as how you practically kissed the ground."

A soft chuckle escaped Trixie's lips, finding the black-haired woman funny.

"Don't get too cozy with me. I still don't like you, princess."

The two females looked back to their companions, especially Galvin, who noticed their looks.

"Go. You'd best hurry before it ends," he replied. That statement caused them to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"You ain't coming with us?" Trixie asked, surprised by the former bodyguard's decision.

He turned back to see his allies begin their walk into the forest after letting all their captives out. Most had their wounds healed and simply laid on the ground. Many had looks of a peaceful sleep, blissfully ignorant to what was happening.

"I can't. I've gotta go..." was his answer as he then began walking towards the forest himself. Right when he reached the first tree, he turned his head and looked back to them.

"But, if you can... Tell Rodin I said, _Thank you_."

With that, he entered the shadow of the forest, leaving the two women to wonder what he meant by that. Though thanks to another powerful explosion, their attention now returned to finding their ally.

Angela quickly pulled on the knot and took off, running into the city. She didn't know how long it would take to get there, but all she could do was hope.

* * *

_**Abandon Sector**_

_**Central Area**_

What once had only empty houses and unfinished projects. Now, there only stood large amounts of rubble and ashes. All scattered around the sector square, with some of it starting to float away with the wind blowing by. Despite nobody living in that area, one look at it could trick someone into thinking there was a riot.

The ones responsible for so much destruction were still causing irreparable damage. With another explosion resonating in the area, two blurry figures crashed into the ground.

From the two holes, a large cloud of smoke covered them, making it hard to see who was inside. A few seconds passed before the blurs came back out, roaring at one other. The light from the sun revealed them to be Rodin and Joshi. The fighters charged at one another, drawing back their fists once again.

When they threw their punches, both collided with each other, delivering a powerful shock-wave. The force behind it was enough to send the two of them flying. Only now, they skidded to a halt when they landed on their feet.

The only sounds that echoed through the area was their panting. With each attack towards one another, it started a toll on their bodies and energy.

For Rodin, his body suffered a couple of burned areas, especially on his jacket. A few of his opponent's attacks scorched through. The fire hit his body, leaving open holes on the arms and sides. When one saw through it, they met with 2nd degree burnt skin. Due to the intensity of the flames, no wounds were open as they had been cauterized upon impact.

With Joshi, the masked-mage's wounds were much more revealing than his enemy's. Due to the sharpness of Rodin's spells, the attacks tore apart his most of his outfit. Parts of it were missing like his arms, pieces of his shirt, and one part of his leggings. Along with them, opened wounds bleed through, a few more than others, but not enough to endanger him.

In hindsight, the two of them looked like they had just fought off an army. Though even with their battered bodies, their rage for another another still burned strong.

"That you got...filth?" Joshi inquired, spitting a wad of blood from his mouth. His attempt to goad Rodin only made the Dragon-Slayer scoff, making him crack his neck.

"You call that a burn? I've heard babies talk better trash," Rodin retorted. It proved to hit the masked-mage where it hurt as he then brought his arms up.

"**Burner Blade!"**

Condensing the flames solely on his forearms, the black fire exploded outward. Though due to focus and condensing, they solidified more into burning swords on each of his arms. The heat was so intense, it mimicked a heat-torch when Joshi brought them to his sides.

He roared out and dashed, bellowing like a wild animal when he attempted to strike at his enemy.

Rodin's reflexes allowed him to dodge each incoming attack, moving backwards after every attempt. Though a few managed to get him, burning right through the jacket. The Dragon-Slayer didn't have time to yell out in pain, and kept his focus. He continued evading the attacks he could expect.

After the last one that thrusted forward, he managed to evade it. Seeing that his guard was down, Rodin went on the offensive.

Focusing his energy into his right arm, the fairy tail mage transformed it into rock. When it stopped glowing, his hand now had the appearance of a bladed gauntlet. Only instead of just two blades, his arm had them all over.

His arm looked normal, but from the wrist, jagged and sharp spikes had popped up. If one punch had it, the damage enough could cause heavy bleeding.

"**Stone Dragon's Quill Arm!**"

The Dragon-Slayer closed his hand and swung his hand diagonally. His attempt was to hit Joshi's defenseless body.

The masked-mage saw his enemy's attempt and swung his body. When he did, his leg lifted up into the air, giving him the chance to deliver a roundhouse kick, while dodging.

His foot landed a hit right on Rodin's cheek, sending him flying right into another empty house. Though unlike last time, the Dragon-Slayer got right back up and charged again. Only now, both his arms had the spell on them.

When The masked-mage got back on his feet, he focused his flames and condensed them. The heat distorted the air around him as he dashed forward towards his enemy.

The fighters now went on a full brawling spree against each other. Both sent out a flurry of attacks, each one connecting with the other and causing more damage.

One more attack from Joshi landed a closer hit on Rodin, causing the Dragon-Slayer to widen his eyes. Shaky and groaning breathing came out of his mouth as he looked down.

The scorching flame blade pierced passed his side, inflicting third degree burns on him. Before he could yell out in pain, Joshi took the chance and kept attacking. He slashed with his arms, hitting the Fairy mage again and again.

"**YOU'RE SO PATHETIC!**" The masked-mage raged, continuing the onslaught while talking. "**YOU. SHOULD'VE. JUST. RUN. AWAY. LIKE. THE. COWARD. YOU. ARE!**"

His last word followed up with a punch right at Rodin's chest, making him roar out in pain. The force behind it sent the Dragon-Slayer tumbling to the ground. He soon stopped when a pile of rubble blocked his path.

The masked-mage's hands soon turned back to normal, leaving him breathless. Though underneath his mask, a demonic grin followed when he saw his prey.

Rodin's jacket was nearing it's limit, having more holes in it than a strainer. They showed his skin having severe burns on them, leaving horrid wounds on his body. Underneath it, a large hole hit Rodin right in the chest of his shirt. It left behind a wound that would leave a scar when it healed.

The Dragon-Slayer struggled, trying to get back up, but felt his legs starting to falter. Even with his incredible durance, the mage's body just couldn't hold out forever. With just sheer will, Rodin only managed to get back on his feet, but struggled to keep himself standing.

Joshi shook his head, amused by the pathetic attempt of his enemy to keep fighting. He started walking, moving one arm up over his head. In that single arm, a black orb of energy condensed itself.

"Come on kid. Don't you think this is pointless? You can't beat me, you're barley clinging on, and all those burns on you are starting to smell."

The closer he got to the enemy, the more the masked-mage couldn't help but pity him. By the time he got right at the Dragon's Slayer, his last thought was on how the match was over for good.

"Just answer me this while you burn: What was point of it all?" was the last statement made before he brought down his arm. Time slowed down for the two. Only Joshi moving his arm downward, thrusting the spell forward.

In Rodin's mind, the images of all his allies, along with the fights they went through. Each scene ending with the face of his fallen teammate, leaving him with a feeling of sadness. For Rodin, seeing people get hurt for him, it was a pain that hurt worse than any of the burns on his body.

Though through that pain, the Dragon-Slayer remembered how much it meant at the time. It wasn't just about fighting, it was about fighting to do what was right.

_"Hey flint-head! You better win every other time! Only time you'll lose is when I beat you!" _The voice of Natsu echoed in his mind.

Joshi's mind race with adrenaline, thirsting for the Dragon-Slayer's screams of pain. He knew that there was no way to avoid the attack at such close range. Soon enough, he would be counting all the wonderful money he'd rip from Duke Marsh's corpse.

"Because people like you are worthless cowards. And my friends gave it their all to get me here. I won't lose to you."

The single statement caused time to return to normal. In seconds, Joshi snapped back to reality with widen eyes. He couldn't believe what was happening just now.

Right in front of him, the masked-mage's arm found itself forced back over his head. The Dragon-Slayer managed to quickly use his own arm to push his opponent's back before the spell hit. Doing so released the geyser of black flames upward, making it reach above the city itself.

All Joshi could do was look back down to his opponent, whose eyes came out of hiding with determination in them. For the first time in his life, the masked-mage hesitated.

With that single opening, the Dragon-Slayer took in a large amount of break. A few pieces of brick flew in the vacuum he was creating, restrengthening his body. In one powerful release, His **Stone-Dragon's Roar** blasted the masked-mage at close range.

Bellows of pain resonated through the area while the spell moved forward. It soon stopped when the attack broke three houses down, making them crumble to the ground.

The Dragon-Slayer knew that attack wouldn't keep him down for long. He knew now that there was one chance left to defeat him without relying on his **Dual-Dragon Mode.**

_"Alright Rodin. Time to see what those intense training sessions did," _he thought to himself. The Dragon-Slayer took in a deep breath, exhaling out. He then threw off his jacket, leaving on his ruined muscle shirt with burns on his arms and side.

His magic energy started channeling through both his arms and legs only, causing them to glow.

"**Stone-Dragon's Scales!**"

In mere seconds, both his arms were now completely covered with stone-scales. The tips of his fingers now had on sharp nails that would allow him to attack better. Though his preparation wasn't done yet.

"**Stone-Dragon's Mail!**"

The scale-like patterns on both arms started changing into a different appearance. His arms now looked like they had steel-mail on them. The texture was more smooth with a light-brown color, almost like a statue's hand.

On his feet, the same process happened, only for his legs, the color was darker gray with a glittery texture to it. Though due to his pants, no one could tell that the change affected them.

His changed finished right on time as a powerful burst of flames erupted from the rubble. It spread through the scattered rubble, engulfing all the wood. The source soon found itself breaking through the ashes, standing upright like a human-being. The flames soon started to shrink, dying down and drawing into the source.

When enough of the flames disappeared, the being in the flame reveled himself as Joshi. Only now, his new appearance was one that wasn't for the faint of heart.

His mask transformed itself into a skull-shape. It now had a large set of teeth that covered the mouth of the wearer. The only second change to the mask was two black lines that ran down from the top down to the sides, passing the eyes.

The outfit he wore was now infused with black flames, fixing much of it from the damage Rodin inflicted. Some of the flames also began to flower around both his wrists, making it look like he wore a band on them.

Joshi stepped down, walking forward towards his opponent, burning the ground with each step. Eventually, he stopped a few feet from Rodin, staring at him. Due to the holes not reveling his eyes. The Dragon-Slayer couldn't tell whether he was angry or thrilled.

"**Blaze Body - Imperial Death**." The masked-mage remarked, cracking his knuckles. "You should feel honored Boy. No one's lived to see this spell, you're the first."

"That's a spell? I just thought you burned yourself," Rodin retorted, earning a chuckle from his enemy.

"Go ahead, joke around. Soon enough, I'll tear your throat out, then see if you can laugh."

That dark statement made Rodin glare at Joshi, knowing now that things were about to get real.

Before he could do anything, the masked-mage disappeared, making the Dragon-Slayer's eyes widen. In a blur, his opponent reappeared behind him, pulling back his fist. In mere seconds, it became engulfed with another **Burner-Blade **spell.

He thrusted forward, attempting to deliver a deadly blow right at Rodin's spine. Though like himself, his opponent disappeared instantly as well. It was now Joshi's turn to widen his eyes with surprise.

A powerful hit landed at the side of his face, knocking him to the side, but not dropping him. The masked-mage looked over, seeing Rodin's serious face. Before he'd charge, Joshi felt a piece of his mask fall, realizing a part of his mask broke off once again.

"H-how the hell did you?!"

"Guess you didn't see the change I did, huh Joshi?" Rodin retorted, lifting his hands to show the masked-mage. "My spell let me change the type of rock my scales use. My legs now have a coating of **Mica**, which makes me faster. And my arms have **Alabasta**, which means I can punch you harder."

The Wild-Breaker mage didn't say anything after hearing his opponent's explanation. All he did was move his neck in a circular motion, causing a large cracking sound to echo. From there, it turned into him giving a hearty laugh.

Rodin raised his eyebrow in confusion, wondering what the hell was going on with him.

"Finally! Now we can finally have a real battle," was the last statement Joshi made before disappearing.

The Fairy-mage's **Stone-Sensing **allowed him to make-out where his opponent was going to attack. With it, he knew that there was going to be an all or nothing match. Like his opponent, Rodin disappeared in a blur.

If one was to see the battle from a distance, nobody would notice the instant blurs that popped in and out. With each one, a powerful shock-wave reverberated, shaking apart the area. The two fighters found themselves colliding with one another, landing one blow after another.

The fighting seemed to move from spot to spot, causing damages to more than just the central sector. When another shock-wave occured, one house caught on fire. Another found itself with large stone spikes pierced into it.

One blur landed a blow, sending the other into the ground tumbling, which was now revealed to be Rodin. The Dragon-Slayer felt Joshi incoming from the side. He transformed his left hand into a spiked pillar.

In seconds, the Fairy-mage turned in the direction of Joshi and pierced the ground.

"**Stone-Dragon's Wave!**"

He roared out as a wave of pillars erupted from the ground, causing his opponent to get hit by some of them. It caused him to get sent flying back, only to stop on the ground, skidding to a halt.

With the masked-mage's advance stopped, he focused his fire through his mask. Both eye holes flared with the fire before they blasted outward. The size of the beams were unique. Almost like living beings, they bent in different directions, easily navigating through the pillars.

Without warning, the beams found their way right to the Dragon-Slayer in seconds. Rodin attempted to block them with his other hand, but wasn't quick enough. Both landed a direct blow on his back as they bent, burning right through the shirt. A painful yell wasn't heard as he kept his focus, pulling out his buried arm.

With his right hand, the Fairy-mage extended it forward with the hand in a clawing position. The scale-mail started glowing as each claw on his finger started grew a bit bigger.

"**Stone-Dragon's Talon Pierce!**"

The claws soon extended forward, almost like spikes. Nothing stopped them as they pierced through the pillars like butter. The attempt to hit Joshi seemed almost impossible without sight. Though thankfully, Rodin could see more ways than one.

Though that thought soon became sour when he felt the vibrations of his enemy jumping upward.

"Too slow rookie!" Joshi yelled from above, causing Rodin to look up and see a large orb in his hands. Extending his hand forward, it sphere began to spin right in front of the masked-mage.

"**Black Buster!"**

The orb was then propelled forward, aiming to hit right on top of the enemy. All Joshi saw was it make contact, triggering a powerful explosion. With it, the flames blew upward like a geyser once again.

After a few seconds, it died down quickly and left a scorched ground. With his feet back on the ground from landing. The masked-mage went over to where he believed the body should've been. All that was there was a large hole made by what looked like a drill.

Realization at the deception came in the form of a sword breaking through the stone. Rodin jumped through his tunnel, causing Joshi to dodge the attack, but not evade fast enough. In mere seconds, his drill stopped spinning to reveal it was his sword. The Dragon-Slayer slashed diagonally, extending the blade and cutting the chest of his enemy.

His attack didnt stop there as the sword in his other hand changed form as well. This time, it was now a gauntlet, which allowed him to dash forward and deliver a powerful punch.

"**Stone-Dragon's Hard-Fist!**"

A powerful kinetic burst of energy struck the masked-mage's body, sending skidding backwards. Even with the attack, Joshi didn't stop fighting when Rodin charged at him again. He summoned up his burner blades and countered.

Both of the mages once again resorted to a stronger hand-to-hand battle. Each attack landed on the other, delivering incredible damage and pain. Though despite this, Rodin seemed to have reached a state where he couldn't feel any.

His eyes had looks of determination and focus to win at any cost, even if it meant his own life.

_"I don't get it..." _Joshi thought to himself, feeling each either delivered or received. When his next punch dealt a blow right to Rodin's cheek. All he could do was look in shock by the lack of falter in his enemy's eyes.

_"I burn him, blister his body, and crack his bones. No other mage up against me has ever survived my onslaught. So how?" _The last few punches from the Dragon-Slayer repeated the same thought in his mind. _"How? How? How?!"_

The final punch slammed against Joshi's mask, finally knocking him down on his knees.

_"How in the hell can he still fight?!"_

The bodies of the two fighters were shaking, breathing heavily from all damage done to them. Even with their magic at their fullest, neither of them was ready to drop. The masked-mage looked up, seeing the Dragon-Slayer still have his fists ready. Though despite having the advantage, he didn't attack.

"Well, whatcha waiting for? An invitation?" Joshi taunted, making Rodin scoff.

"I'm giving you one last chance: End this now and stand down," Rodin declared. Even when his enemies did horrid things. The fairy-mage would still give them one chance to redeem themselves. A few times, there were those who took the offer.

For Joshi, he'd sooner take a knife into his privates than ever surrender to anyone. The answer came in the form of an uppercut. It sent the Dragon-Slayer flying backwards, landing hard on the ground.

Right when he did that, the masked-mage focused fire through the soles of his shoes. It caused enough thrust to lift him high into the air, where he started floating.

"**You can't win shit-stain! I'm ending this right now, even if I have to take everyone with me!**"

The last statement showed just how deranged the mage was. He then followed it with action as he lifted both arms over his head. Once again, an orb of black fire appeared, only this time, it was growing to large heights.

The Dragon-Slayer lifted himself off the ground, rubbing his chin to make it feel better. Before long, a shadow started to cast over him, causing him to look up and realize what was happening.

Joshi's orb was now twice the size of a large house, burning with such intensity that it distorted the air. If it made contact with the ground, the impact could wipe out more than half the town.

"Say good-bye! **Black Emperor Destroyer!**"

What happened next gave the Dragon-Slayer even more worry than he had previously thought possible. Instead of throwing the orb, its essence started pouring into Joshi's body. In seconds, it disappeared and now, the masked-mage was the embodiment of the spell. His own body was now within a large orb, almost like a miniature sun.

In a blink of an eye, it soon pushed downward to hit the Dragon-Slayer. All Rodin could do was close his eyes, feeling the pain finally catch up to him. He felt a level of exhaustion that would drive even the strongest of wills to break.

"Damn... If I had thought things were gonna be this tough, I would've stayed in the village." The Dragon-Slayer chuckled to himself, remembering all the incredible adventures he had with Trixie. "The world's so much more interesting than I ever thought possible...Thanks old man."

That last statement made Rodin open his eyes, which were now filled with confidence. Mustering up all the power in his body left, the Dragon-Slayer summoned what magic energy he had leftover.

When he had enough, the fairy-mage slammed the palms of his hands together, causing them to glow. Before long, he thrusted them upward over his head.

"**Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Giga Slave!**"

The light erupted upward, glowing enough to pierce the shadows on the ground. A few seconds later, it stopped and revealed a giant axe construct he made from stone. It was bigger than some of the buildings surrounding him.

It took everything Rodin had to keep it together, waiting for the right moment to strike. His focus kept on the incoming orb, watching it before he'd send his own attack to it.

Before long, time started slowing down one again for Rodin as he kept his focus. Everything he experienced through the battles fought, centered on that one single strike.

Right when Joshi finally made it close enough, the Dragon-Slayer swung it downward.

The two powerful spells collided, creating a intense shock-wave that leveled all other construction sites. Both of them struggled to overpower the other, creating a crater right underneath them. The bladed edge of the axe started wearing down, while the integrity of the orb was starting to break apart. Soon enough, an explosion triggered, catching both mages in its path.

Only a cloud of dust covered the entire area, making it difficult for anyone to see. When it finally settled, the only house left standing had a giant crater in front of it, scorched and deep enough to make a new lake.

Silence entered the area as all anyone would hear was the echoes of yelling citizens in the distance. Without a doubt, it was one of the most incredible moments people would talk about for years to come.

Though soon enough, one large cough broke through and revealed itself as Rodin, who was struggling to get back up from the ground. The Dragon-Slayer's appearance had him nearly half-naked with his shirt burnt off and parts of his pants gone. Though the more serious injuries showed, especially a severe third degree burn on the entire left part of his body.

Breathing heavily, he got up from the crater to find himself right near the edge of the crater. Each move he made only added a horrible strike of pain that struck his body, making it harder for him not to cry out. When he finally managed to get back on his feet, Rodin couldn't help but realize that Joshi was nowhere around him.

Though another cough echoed, making him turn his attention to the location of it, which was inside the crater. The Dragon-Slayer looked down, seeing the mage's body covered in burns, which included the now-broken mask next to him. The only clothes Joshi had left was his pants, leaving him without a shirt and no shoes, but with more opened wounds than Rodin had.

The fairy-mage scoffed at his opponent, spitting on him as a final insult before he began his trudge away. Pain coursed through his body, causing him to hold his burnt arm to try and keep it from causing anymore. Though Rodin knew that his work wasn't done yet, that there was one last person he needed to talk with, and there was only one location he could be.

Looking ahead of him, the Dragon-Slayer stared at one house that wasn't destroyed or even damaged. He knew that the bastard that tricked him and his partner was there, and now, there was nothing to stop him from catching him.

* * *

_**Abandon House**_

"Come on damn you! Work! Work damn it!" Marsh yelled out, slamming his fist against the steel door in front of him. Inside the seemingly abandon house, underneath the floorboards, was an escape hatch that the Duke installed. It was stainless steel and coated with a special magic spell that only allowed him or his bodyguard to use at any given moment.

Though due to all the fighting that went on, which activated another spell that protected the house from falling apart. It went into a temporary lockdown that would keep in place for up to two hours, leaving Marsh with no exit strategy.

Sweat poured down his face, making what remained of his fancy clothing soaked in sweat. The sounds of the fights started ending, which meant that now, the winner was going to come after him, and end him for good. He attempted another hit on it, causing him to bruise his knuckles and yell out in pain, swearing in a language no one had ever heard of.

Before long, his worst fear came to realize as suddenly, there was a powerful kick at the door, causing the walls to shake. By the second or third kick, Marsh knew that the door wasn't going to hold much longer, and tried desperately to get it open.

With one last kick, his last-line of defense left him, making the man cover his neck, begging whoever it was to go away and leave him be. Before long, a hand grabbed the Duke's shirt, picking him up and throwing him hard against the floor.

"Get up you worthless bastard," the voice ordered, making Marsh turn around when he realized whose voice it was. A part of him was tremendously relieved by the fact Rodin had broken in, but now another part secretly wished it was Joshi.

"R-r-rodin, you-you made it! I-I'm so glad-" Marsh's studdering got interrupted by the Dragon-Slayer kicking a chair, causing him to roar out in pain.

"Screw you Marsh, don't pretend that you give a damn I survived," he spoke in a venomous tone, making Marsh shudder in fear. "How long were you planning this, Huh?! When did you decided to sell your soul for a few worthless pieces of paper?!"

That statement got the Duke scared, which meant that he was about to make the Dragon-Slayer even angrier.

"Oh don't act high and mighty with me, you're not some saint that people make you out to believe," he retorted before getting on his feet. "You think you're better than me?! Ha! What really drove you to come help me?! It wasn't out of the kindness of your heart or some duty to protect me! It was all about the money!"

Rodin's burnt hand tightened into a fist, causing him to have a few tears drop down his face. His rage was causing his body to tighten more with stress, which wasn't a good idea since more than half his body had major burns on it already.

"Screw you Marsh! I trusted you, believed what you said and wanted nothing more than to help someone noble! I could give a rats ass about some money, Fairy Tail doesn't care about getting paid! We have adventures for the sake of them, not because we get some kind of huge reward at the end of it!"

The former Duke started backing away, moving towards a table with a couple of bags that contained the money stolen from the casino. In his mind, he knew that the fairy-mage wouldn't back down from this, especially for someone whose ferociously loyal to a fault. When he finally reached it, the desperate man quickly opened it up and pulled out a large pile of packaged bills, holding it outward to his former employee.

"Look, see?! All this can be your's Rodin, think about it. Who else do you know has this much money, its perfect isn't it?! Let me go and I'll give you everything I stole! Just let me go!"

For the first time in his entire travel's, the Dragon-Slayer was at a loss for words by what he was looking at. No longer the man he looked up to when he first joined Fairy Tail, now there was just a desperate man who wanted to buy his way out of trouble.

By that point, he had enough and punched him with his less burnt hand, seeing blood left behind from the impact. The cash fell, slamming hard against the ground as Marsh went to it and covered it with his body. Rodin now saw what it meant to become corrupt, forcing oneself to betray those they called allies and friends all for the promise of power. He knew now that the world wasn't perfect and that not everyone deserved the same chance to redeem themselves.

"Get up... I'm not going to kill, but I'm damn sure gonna get you thrown away in a deep hole by the **Rune Knights**. The world doesn't need filth like you."

"Actually, it does," a voice remarked as it caused the Dragon-Slayer to turn around to see the source of the voice. His eyes widen with shock by who it was, almost like he was seeing a ghost from his past that returned.

* * *

_**Wow, such an intense fight and action-packed chapter, only to have another horrid cliffhanger. Thank you all for reading this chapter, I'll admit it took quite a bit for me to really get this right. Now all that's left is the epilogue for this arc which will be a long one so I hope you're all ready for it when it arrives.**_

_**References: This chapter does contain some references I used from different series, one example is Rodin's hand pushing Joshi's hand upward. That was based off of the moment between Aang and Lord Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Giga Slayer was a spell from the series, Slayers, which was used by the main character in impossible situations. Lastly, the new mask that Joshi had was the 2nd version of the Hollow mask Ichigo wore after his fight with Ulquiorra and his Hollow Power raged. For those confused by the Mica and Alabasta, those two rocks have special characteristics. Alabasta is one of the strongest minerals around, close to diamond, making it perfect to deliver heavy damage. The Mica is a light and durable material, which meant he could run much faster than before**_

_**Anyway, I'm glad for those who have stayed with me, especially those like Pokemonking, and I hope to start writing a bit better to allow some of the more seasoned people to leave reviews on here. Thank you all once again and stayed tuned for Chapter 36: A Fairy's Home. **_


	26. Tournament Gamble: Epilogue

_**Chapter 26**_

_**A Fairy's Home**_

* * *

**_Evening_**

**_Angela's house_**

Where once the city was filled with the echoes of terror by its inhabitants; now only sounds of electric hums from the casinos and vulgar cheers resonated. Despite the initial damage done to one of the more popular attractions, the locals and visitors still continued to explore **Venture Town's** nightlife.

The only difference now was that construction signs hung in every corner that lead to the damaged area, stopping others from entering.

The further one went deeper into town, the more damage they saw dealt, especially at the poorer districts. Though like always, hardly anyone walked around that place when the sun went down, leaving it's streets hollow and brooding as usual.

Though in one of the streets, a single house still had it's lights on, indicating that there was people still awake at that hour. If one entered inside the house, they'd only see one woman, who was reading a book and leaning against the wall to relax. Another thing they'd notice was that while reading, she was singing a song, but only kept it at a whisper to avoid awakening her sleeping guests.

* * *

_Whenever I'm with him,_

_Something inside._

_Starts to burnin',_

_And I'm filled with Desire._

_Could it be a devil in me,_

Or is this the way

_Love's suppose to be?_

_It's like a Heatwave._

* * *

Light shined from the light Lacrima, which was swinging back and forth from the ceiling while the fan was on. It revealed the face of **Angela**, who still had on her bandages from the battle she endured.

The current outfit she was wearing was a simple blue sports bra with sweats that allowed her to be in a comfy position without too much stress on her body, which still had some of the bandages on it.

Her attention from the book shifted to the other body in the room, which was on a fold-out mattress she purchased since her return home. On it was her ally, **Rodin Clark**, whose body was practically mummified due to the intensity of his injuries.

His new appearance had most of his chest area covered with bandages, ranging from his arms down to his stomach. There was a few wrappings around his forehead with a large gauze on his left cheek. The only spot that showed to have none was his neck, which still had his necklace around it.

He was currently unconscious and breathing softly while covered by his jacket to keep the cold air from making him move. Near his side was the feline partner of his, Trixie, who was also knocked out and sleeping with her bandaged body.

All Angela could do was look with worry in her eyes, trying to figure out what happened to him. The way she found him after jogging through the town made her shiver when the memory came out.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_"Come on girly! Move faster!" Trixie ordered, pulling the air of her ally harder each time she repeated the phrase. "Rodin needs us!"_

_"Okay okay! Knock it off, I'm going as fast as I can!" Angela retorted, shaking her head to get the chunk of hair out of the feline's grip. _

_Since leaving the trio that helped them and the other people escape the explosion from the arena. The two women found themselves nearing the site where the last critical explosion occurred, making it a priority to get there sooner. _

_The woman sensed Rodin's magic energy, but found it dropping after the end of the fight, which caused her to worry. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived, both now having shocked faces at what they saw._

_Where once there were hundreds of houses, now only stood pieces of rubble and a lake-sized crater that dug deep enough to reach solid stone. _

_Angela's ability to detect magic signatures allowed her to comb the area, trying to track any signs of life. Before long, she felt a sudden surge of magic energy, looking at the only remaining house that survived the coming onslaught brought by the two enemies. _

_Before Trixie could ask what she was looking at, the woman ran towards the house with what remaining strength she had left. By the time she reached the front door, both legs were close to buckling under the pain inflicted from her previous battle. _

_Fighting to catch her breath, the black-haired woman raised her arm to grab the door-knob, twisting it to find that the house wasn't locked. _

_Counting to three, she pulled the door open and peered inside, finding only the body of Rodin placed on the ground, having his jacket cover his chest. _

_"Rodin!" Trixie yelled out, struggling until she managed to escape her seat alone, causing the feline to slide down her ally's body. Ignoring the pain when she landed on ground, the cat rushed to her partner's side, shaking him in an attempt to awaken him. "Damn it! You better get up right now, I'm not messing around with you!"_

_Angela went forward, bending down to her knee once more and placed the first two fingers on her left hand to the side of his neck, secretly praying for a heartbeat. _

_A slow pulse spiked right against the woman's fingertips, making her sigh with extreme relief._

_"Don't worry Trixie, he's alive. Whatever happened to him, it just knocked him unconscious," she remarked with confidence. The feline turned back, giving what looked like a teary-eyed look at the mage, shaking with fear and slowly starting to smile when the news came. All Trixie could do was jump at him, pressing her face against his jacket, letting out a muffled sob that turned into crying. _

_All Angela could do was place her hand on the cat's back, softly rubbing it to give comfort. Before she could speak, the woman looked forward and saw an open hatch, leaving her to suspect that Marsh managed to make his escape. _

_"Damn it..." She muttered, shaking her head in frustration with everything that turned out on this whole ordeal. There was no money or prisoner, most of the poor district was in ruins, and nobody would be the wiser in this town. _

_Despite that, Angela turned over to see her teammates, seeing Trixie softly caress her unconscious partner's face. In that moment, all the feline cared about was that Rodin was safe and alive, anything else done failed in comparison. _

_"Come on," Angela declared, walking over to the Dragon-Slayer's body, causing Trixie to turn away and look with confusion. "We can't leave him here, it's best we take him back to my place to heal, trust me. Those damn town guards will be picking this place with a fine-tooth comb." _

_"How? I can't exactly move that well wearing these damn bandages, not to mention we're not exactly in the best shape or condition?" The feline retorted, making the woman shake her head in amusement before grabbing Rodin's arm, trying her best to lift him up and lean against her. _

_"Don't think I'm out of steam just yet," she remarked with a cocky tone, making the feline chuckle out a sob, wiping away the tears that feel down her eyes._

_With that settled, the woman began her long trek along side the unconscious body of a former enemy, and a talking feline wrapped up like a mummy. _

_Soon enough after their return back to the hideout, Angela patched up the Dragon-Slayer the best she could, leaving them stuck there until things calmed down._

* * *

**_Present_**

The memory soon stopped when she heard a soft yawn, quickly turning around to see Rodin finally coming to, groaning a bit from his body feeling like a punching bag.

She put the book down and quickly went to his side, slowly pushing him back down to have him not move around too much.

"Where..Where am I?" He inquired with a tone that made him sound like someone forced rocks down his throat, without letting him chew them.

"Easy now Rodin," Angela remarked before going to grab some water for him to drink, filling it in her only clean glass. She took it over to him, lifting it up to his mouth and gently tilted it, allowing him to slowly drink it.

When he finished, the Dragon-Slayer coughed out, clearing his throat before looking over to his caretaker.

"We found you inside what was probably the last standing house after your battle with Joshi. I couldn't him or Marsh, guess the two must've skipped with the money."

Rodin's eyes widen when he heard the news, causing him to hold his head in pain, almost like something was come up from his memory.

"What's wrong?"

A few seconds later, it stopped and allowed him to breath again before he looked over to her and shake his head.

"I don't... I can't remember what the hell happened," he stated, pulling off the jacket to see his chest covered in bandages. "I know Joshi got beaten by me and I cornered Marsh... But everything else, its just blank..."

Before saying anything else, something slide out from the pocket of Rodin's jacket, causing the two to focus their attention on it. The light revealed it to be an envelope, but instead of it looking normal, it was a bit bulky from the sides.

Angela kneeled down and picked up the envelope, handing it back to her patient as he tried to feel what was inside of it. Not having any luck, the Dragon-Slayer took a deep breath and slowly opened it, peeling the glued edge quickly.

The eyes of the woman widen with surprise when he lifted the side, revealing a large sum of jewels inside of it, almost 100,000 worth. Both mages couldn't believe how so much money fit into a single envelope, but didn't seem to care either way.

Despite having the money in his hand, Rodin's memory of the talk with Marsh made him return to normal, scoffing at it before throwing it to the side of his bed.

Angela gave a surprised look at the Dragon-Slayer, looking back at the jewels before realizing what this meant from his prospective.

Their enemy attempted to buy them off like common crooks, practically slapping them in the face to add insult to injury. She couldn't help but pick up the money and sent it to the wall, causing the contents to fall out and spread on the floor.

"Those bastards..." Rodin remarked, standing up from the pull-out, and limped his way towards the restroom for some private business.

The black-haired woman sighed with exhaustion and walked over to the window, looking at the moon going high in the sky. Her initial thoughts soon turned to Galvin, wondering where he was and what had happened to him despite all the chaos that ensued.

Little did she know, there was more to this entire ordeal than ever thought possible. One day, she and her companions would play a part in something that would bind their fates once again.

* * *

_**Hidden Location**_

Deep within a forest far from the noisy casino's, stood three individuals that kept to the darkness, wearing only their familiar masks. Galvin and the wolf-masked man managed to secure everything they needed, which included the entire **Wild-Breaker **team. And their employer, who was a shadow of his former self, reduced to nothing more than a dead body on the floor after having suffered torture from his captures.

The others were still alive, but found themselves sealed away in more special cocoons made by the former-bodyguard. Each one was specially made to counter and keep their prisoner secure, also leaving them drained of magic energy as well.

With the night covering them, there was only one thing stopping them from continuing on their travel. Fortunately, that problem arrived as Adrian returned to his allies, carrying the leader of the team in another cocoon.

"That's the last of them," he remarked before cracking his neck due to the tension he's had for a while now. "The deed's done I take it?"

"What do you think?" Galvin retorted with a sarcastic tone, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to show Adrian the body of Marsh.

"Quit showing off slime," the wolf-masked man remarked, causing the former bodyguard to growl before taking his leave. This left both the earth-mage and card-mage to talk alone, which would start changing from a simple talk to arguing.

"So, did you mark him? He asked, making Adrian grunt in irritation while he went over to Duke Marsh's body to make sure he was truly dead.

"Yes, the boss can call him when it's his time," he snarled, turning around to gather the other prisoners. Before he could, the dragon-masked man heard an amusing chuckle from his partner, making him turn to face him with rage in his eyes.

"Think this is funny?"

The atmosphere between the two of them started getting tense, which is likely due to the incredible magic energy both of them were pouring out of their bodies.

"No, I don't. I just think you're hilariously pathetic, acting like this wasn't expected of you. You knew the deal, our pact is law, don't think you're guilty conscious matters at this point-"

His boasting stopped when Adrian's anger erupted, causing him to summon up two giant stone-hands, slamming them together to capture his partner.

"Do. Not. Test Me! I don't give two shits what happens to you, we're replaceable right?"

"Sure, but if you kill me and You go down, who do you think the boss is going to call in as his replacement? Give you a hint, you just erased his own memory and left him with a measly sum of money for the backstabbing you did."

The remark made Adrian squeeze tighter, wanting nothing more than to see this pop right in front of him. Despite his wish, he knew what his purpose was and cancelled the spell, causing the constructs to sink back into the floor.

The wolf-masked man fixed his hood and dusted off his cloak, giving a serious glare at his traitorous partner. Before long, he walked forward and slammed his fist right into Adrian's mask, knocking him flat on his back.

"Don't forget your place, cuz next time, I'll be sure to tell the boss whose really useful in his group," was the last statement made by the masked-man .

He grabbed a few of the cocoons and proceeded to drag them away, walking deeper into the forest until the only thing heard was the noise of dragging.

All Adrian could do was lie there, looking up at the stars like they were a million judging eyes staring down at him, making him wonder if the choices he made were right.

He looked at his right hand, which had what looked like a tattoo of a whirlpool on it, making him wish his entire arm was gone along with it.

The man simply stood up, dusting himself off from the dirt that got caught in his cloak, and went towards the last remaining cocoon. With ease, the man simply heaved over his shoulder, carrying it before walking back into the darkness once again.

Nobody viewed anything that day, except for a few animals who walked across the body of the former Duke's, which soon began to disappear under a pile of falling leaves.

Soon enough, there would be a brooding destiny for those that were part of this, but for now, only the empty silence gave an answer.

* * *

**_Next Day_**

The Dragon-Slayer's eyes quickly opened, looking up at what was the ruined ceiling of his ally's home. His body that morning felt like someone took it and bent him in 100 different ways, leaving him feeling like taffy. Despite so much pain pulsing through his body, Rodin managed to sit up on the pull-out couch, looking around to find that morning had come.

In the current room he was in, only small patches of light passed through, allowing just enough illumination to see where he walked.

Before he could move, a soft snoring caught his attention, causing the fairy mage to look over his other side and see his partner. Trixie found herself clinging onto the Dragon-Slayer, almost like she was afraid he'd disappear if she let go.

A soft smile appeared on the mage's face as he gently loosened her paws, eventually letting them drop off of him. With fine focus, he tried his best to get out of the bed, a few times having to bite his bandaged hand to not yet, but succeeded in standing up.

The cold floor didn't bother him too much as he limped once again towards the kitchen, hoping to drink something to ease him. A thought came to mind though before he reached the door to the kitchen, their host wasn't in the house.

Despite having little to no magic energy, his **Stone-Sensing **allowed him to still view simple objects without trouble. It showed him that Angela wasn't in her bedroom or the bathroom, which meant she disappeared and left them alone.

The Dragon-Slayer looked over to where he threw the money at, finding it still there and spread out like scattered paper. Before he could go count it to be sure, a humming caught his attention as footsteps came closer to the door before they came to a halt.

In seconds, the door opened to reveal Angela, who was carrying some paperwork and a bag with what looked like some take-out she got.

The current outfit she wore was a pair of beige colored short-shorts, reaching to her inner thighs with a white blouse under a black v-neck tank top. To top it all off, she also had on a navy blue blazer that reached the halfway point of her shorts. Some of the bandages still appeared on one of her legs, though it only reached up to her knee. The shoes she was currently wearing were matching flats, allowing her to walk with ease.

When entering, the black-haired woman look to see Rodin back on his feet, making her smile at the accomplishment.

"Hey, nice to see that pain isn't keeping you down," she remarked with a teasing tone while walking past him and going into the kitchen.

"Yeah, though I'm pretty sure my legs are gonna feel like pudding for a few weeks," he replied, making the woman chuckle slightly while trudging towards her. "Where did you go?"

"Well, after what happened yesterday, I went to go talk with the bank about my house and see where I stand with it."

She finished reading and pinched the bridge of her nose, indicating that the news wasn't good at all.

"What did they say?"

A few seconds of silence followed after, which then resulted in the woman throwing the papers and causing them to glide down to the ground. She then exhaled a breath of frustration, looking back to Rodin.

"I'm screwed, no money left in my mom's old bank account, meaning I've got by the end of the day to leave for good."

The statement made Rodin's eyes widen with surprise at the tone of her voice, almost like felt a sense of peace with her predicament. Despite the two only knowing each other for such a short time, the Dragon-Slayer felt a connection with the woman.

Both of them came from similar paths, while having their differences in lots of things, one thing about them was practically identical. They knew when to hide what their real feelings are and often don't say anything unless it's with someone they trust.

"So, what are you gonna do? Just pack up and go?" He asked, seeing the woman open the fridge and pull out her last bottle of water she had in there.

"Yep," was Angela's only response as she opened the bottle and drank it's content in mere seconds, finishing it and tossing it at the sink. "What about you two? I mean with all this _Marsh crap _behind you, guessing you'll be heading back to Fairy-Tail, bruises and all?"

Rodin couldn't help but look at both himself and Trixie, knowing full well that neither of them weren't suited to move. Though with only a few jewels left for three tickets at the most, there wasn't much option to staying.

He nodded at the woman, confirming her question and making her smile before walking out, going towards her room to collect her stuff.

The Dragon-Slayer now stood alone, standing in the kitchen with nothing but his pants on, looking at the door Angela exited out of. Despite what she said and acted, a part of him knew that this wasn't the path for her.

He looked down to his right forearm, picturing his guild-mark underneath the bandages, and soon saw all his friends smiling at him.

With that single memory, an idea soon popped into his head, causing him to trudge over to where her room was, finding the door closed. He took a few seconds, breathing in and out a few times before he knocked, waiting to hear a response.

"Bit busy here Rodin, what is it?" She responded, giving an almost annoyed attitude towards her ally. He ignored it and cleared his throat to make sure nothing would obstruct him while he talked.

"Mind if I talk to you? It's important," he inquired, taking a few seconds once again to see if she would reply or simply ignore the question. His answer came when she opened the door and exited the room, leaning against the wall in front of him.

"Alright, what is it you want to talk about exactly?" She remarked, crossing her arms against her ample chest.

"Look," he began. "I get you've been through hell and back since you were a kid, how everything was and has been since Phantom disbanded. Though now with this, I think there's something you should really consider Angela."

He took a brief pause before deciding that now was the time to say what exactly he was talking about.

"Why don't you come along with me and Trixie, join up with **Fairy Tail** and do some good for others?"

That single remark was the only thing capable of breaking the glare that she was giving him, which was now replaced by a look of shock. Angela didn't ever expect the Dragon-Slayer to say such a thing, especially after the history both of them shared when she was under Phantom's Banner.

Despite that, the woman could initially tell that he was dead serious in his question, waiting to hear a response from her.

A few seconds of staring caused the black-haired mage to shake her head, snapping out of the trance she was somehow under. Taking another look at Rodin, the woman knew she had to give an answer.

"What..What brought this up so suddenly?" She inquired, wanting to hear what exactly made the man want to invite her of all people back to the guild Angela once opposed.

The Dragon-Slayer took in a deep breath to calm himself, then exhaled while running his left had across his messy hair.

"You've done more for us these past few days than anyone I've ever met," he started off. "You may have initially done this out of a feeling to try and make amends with your mother, but over time, it became more personal to you. There were plenty of chances to leave us and save yourself, why didn't you take it?"

Before she could answer, a thought came into the woman's mind that made her think. What he said made sense, the woman only agreed to help them for one match, then after words, Angela could've left at any time.

So why was that she stayed behind to not just help them, but save them more than once?

"I..I don't know okay?" She retorted in frustration, turning away from the Dragon-Slayer to not look at him.

"I'll tell you why, it's because deep down, you didn't want anyone to get hurt, because you're not the monster Jose tried to make you."

That single statement made Angela open her eyes, turning around to face Rodin once again, only now, she had a look of realization.

That statement provided the woman an answer she's been looking for since coming back home. The Black-haired mage remembered every single beating, punishment, and lesson her father attempted to drill into her. Though despite all that pain and suffering, she could never bring herself to just become evil.

"Do you really believe that?"

"I do, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed here and offered you a place in Fairy Tail. You're not that bastard, I've seen true kindness and compassion, even if you're about as stubborn as a mule."

That comment made the woman chuckle, covering her mouth with one of her hands to keep him from seeing the smile.

Angela once again leaned against the wall, leaning her head down slightly as it caused her hair to droop down to hide herself.

"...What, what if they hate me?" She inquired in a trembling voice, indicating a sense of fear from the black-haired mage.

"I can't lie and say Fairy Tail doesn't forgive those who hurt their allies, but Master Makarov is understanding. If you explain why, I think it'd be okay... I mean, isn't it worth a shot?"

Angela looked up to Rodin, showing her eyes starting to water slightly, making him realize she had doubts about it. He knew that there wasn't any point of trying to pressure her, and decided to give her some time to consider it.

"Alright, I'm gonna wake up Trixie and get my stuff together, we're gonna head to the train station and wait for the twelve o'clock train. If you want to try, then meet us there and we'll all go together, but you have to make the decision..."

With that last statement, Rodin started limping away from her and headed back to the living room to wake his ally.

All Angela could do was stay in that stop, hearing the echoes of Rodin's words reverberating in his head. Though those words soon stopped when the echo of her opening door caused the black-haired woman to return to reality.

When it closed, she went over to check and saw that the duo already put the bed back to how it was,and grabbed the rest of their stuff before leaving as well.

The black-haired woman looked at her Lacrima clock, seeing that the time was already eleven-thirty. She had been thinking for nearly ten minutes without even realizing it, which meant there was only half-an-hour left.

Tightening her fist, the woman turned away and went back straight back into the room.

* * *

**_Train-Station_**

_**11:50**_

"I still can't believe you just up and offered her to come with us, I mean there's stupid. Then there's really stupid, but this? This is **Natsu-stupid**!" Trixie yelled out, making her partner cover his ears to avoid the loud volume.

The duo had arrived at the station more than ten minutes ago, already purchasing their ticket and now just sitting down to wait for their train. All around them were other train-goers, each one having their own destination in mind and heading towards the train to take them there.

Both partners had their replacement clothes on, allowing them to cover most of their bandages without problem.

Rodin's outfit consisted of a loose white shirt with the Fairy-Tail emblem in the front, which reached down to his thighs. His replacement shoes were more traveling boots since his original pair was burnt to a crisp in his last battle. His signature Jacket found itself tied around his waist, allowing him to keep it close without having to wear it.

Trixie's outfit was a bit unusual than her previous one, which was a miniature long-sleeved shirt. She still wore her black leggings, but now there were a few tears in them, showing off patches of fur.

"Come on, what was I suppose to do? She helped us Trixie, I mean, what would've have done?" Rodin remarked after she had calmed down from yelling.

"Given her that bribe money and just go! I mean yeah she helped, but there's still the little idea that she's **Jose's Daughter**! How can we really trust that there's nothing wrong with her," she replied with sarcasm.

That earned her a glare, something that Rodin never often did to anyone, especially the feline herself. She knew when he did that, the conversation was going too far.

"Look... I get what she did to you, believe me I would be the last person to forgive, but Angela payed her dues when she saved you. I think she really has a chance to do something better, maybe I'm wrong, but everyone deserves the chance to make amends."

With that statement, the Dragon-Slayer turned away to focus on the entrance of the train station, keeping his eyes peeled for their friend. A small part of Rodin considered the option that she wouldn't arrive, but his instincts knew that there was hope.

All Trixie could do was sigh in frustration before lying down on the bench, deciding to take a nap to try and forget about the pain her arm was in.

Five minutes passed on the grand clock of the station, making much of the people whose train left at twelve start to walk towards their loading area.

The duo still stayed there, waiting on the person to come through the entrance, but still nothing. Before long, a small whine caught people's attention as the speakers began to hum.

_"Attention passengers, the Train to Magnolia is now boarding, please make your way there immediately."_

When the Dragon-Slayer heard the announcement, a look of sadness plastered his face, knowing now what Angela wanted. Not seeing any point of prolonging the inevitable, Rodin turned to his partner and shook her softly, waking her from the cat nap she was having.

"Uh..Wha...What happened?" Trixie mumbled, opening her eyes to see the Dragon-Slayer getting up from his spot.

"Come on, our train's here and we're gonna miss it," he replied while taking both luggage in his hands. The feline stretched slightly and got off the bench, beginning to follow her partner as he walked towards the terminal.

"Geez, if this is how Fairy-Tail waits, I may reconsider my decision," a familiar voice spoke out, making the two of them stop in their tracks. They both turned to see the person smiling at both of them, having two luggage bags with her.

Angela had arrived just in time with a smile on her face, making Rodin grin back while Trixie simply scoffed and turned away.

"You came.." Rodin remarked with a mix of surprise and relief in his voice, trying his best not to express too much.

"Well, I figured if I'm gonna be homeless, least I can be warm with you two," she teased at them, looking down to see the feline huff.

"Don't think you're gonna get too much of a surprise party girly," Trixie remarked, walking towards the terminal on her own. Though despite her tough attitude, secretly, she was happy that the woman decided to join up with them.

"Guess that's gonna take some getting used to,"Angela chuckled, looking at Trixie until she disappeared into the exit. A cough caught her attention, making the black-haired mage look over to the Dragon-Slayer, who held an extra ticket out for her.

The woman was a bit hesitant, but when the smile of Rodin caught her eyes, she grabbed it with confidence and nodded.

"Come on, let's get home," Rodin remarked as he began his walk towards the terminal with their newest friend with them.

The trio didn't know what was going to happen when they got back, but what they did know, things weren't gonna be the same ever again.

* * *

_**And thus, the Tournament Gamble Arc has finally been concluded,and for those who kept up with it, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I know I just posted not too long ago, but I needed to post this because I will be taking a small break from writing on here to focus on getting back to school. Not only that, but I will be moving soon so I will have to focus on that for a bit. As I mentioned before, the next few chapters will mostly be fillers to make it's way to the Tower of Heaven Arc. And the surprise I mentioned before? Angela's going to be the main character for them, show the transgression from princess to a member of Fairy Tail.**_

_**I hope you all enjoyed this arc, it was a long struggle but I made it and finished it, so now we can finally take a relaxing step and make it a little more calm. So stayed tuned for Chapter 27 - Brutal **_**_Baptism._**

**_Also, for the lyrics of that song Angela sang, it's from an oldies song from a group called Martha and the Vandellas, Heatwave. Be warned, it's from a time when the black and white tv was out and music was more catchy than today's generation. Please let me know if there's a way to improve the singing fashion on chapters, I am very much a rookie at this._**


	27. Brutal Baptism

_**Chapter 27**_

_**Brutal **_**_Baptism_**

**_Welcome everyone to the beginning of the Filler Arc of Fairy Tail, where I will be depicting some interesting stories involving Angela, with special appearances by other members of Fairy Tail. So sit back, relax, and enjoy._**

**_I do not own Fairy Tail. _**

* * *

**_Afternoon_**

**_Field_**

The high-noon sun shined down on the land, blessing nature with its wondrous gift of light and nutrition to the inhabitants. Instances of this were the slow blooming fields of flowers that gently swayed with the breeze that passed through. Even when the creation of technology, giving new objects like train-tracks on the ground, all was peaceful.

That single moment of harmony found itself disturbed when a blaring horn echoed through the area. With it, a large locomotive rushed through, summoning a large gust of wind that blew the petals off the semi-blooming flowers.

Light reflected from the train's sleek body while it moved, flashing any unsuspecting beings that lingered. Each single cabin was specifically tailored to fit and aid the locomotive's travel, allowing every single part to have a purpose.

The most important section was the main engine, which was releasing a large black smog, hinting that it used coal for fuel. With one separate cab housing the substance, it kept exhaling smog and pushed against anything standing in it's way.

While the outside was a more aggressive appearance due to the heavy machinery, making even children cry in fear.

The inside was one of the most luxurious places that humans have ever created.

* * *

**_Train_**

**_Passenger Cabin_**

When one entered into the train, it would be almost as if they entered another dimension of peace and serenity. The one of the decorative cabin on the locomotive was the passenger cab, which housed many people on their travels.

Some found themselves sitting in the public section, which held an array of seating against one another. This area was for those wising to exit upon arriving at their next stop, allowing them easy access to their luggage and the door.

In that train, more than half of the seats had their own traveler sitting down, enjoying the comfort of red leather seating. The wooden seating along with the cushions gave a regal ambiance most people wouldn't know of. Along with two seats was a window view of the passing environment, allowing everyone to see what wonders awaited them while moving.

Although the more public cabins were a good comfort, the more private cabins in the second half of the train allowed for better privacy and relaxation.

They were for the longer travels that took more than a couple of days to arrive at destination, allowing for an interesting experience. When one would enter, they would come face-to-face with an entire row of doors, each one a few inches away from the other.

At first glance, they seem to be no more than a single space that hardly fit one person, or so one would think. When they entered, it was almost like stepping into a pocket world, almost giving the illusion of a small space.

One room in particular, the last door at the end of the hall, housed a small group that was enjoying the silence the cabin offered.

Inside it, there was a unique design crafted by a ingenious mind to allow people to enjoy the comforts of home upon entering. The beds stood near the ceiling, accessible with a single ladder to allow an individual to reach it in seconds to sleep.

It's design had a large steel holding to allow the insertion of a mattress in the space, keeping it secure from falling to the ground. In each room, there was two beds with the same design, with both having a love seat underneath to allow one to sit and relax.

To further the atmosphere, the windows housed on the wall had on privacy curtains, a handy way to keep sun from coming into the room.

Within one of these almost luxurious rooms, were the small team of **Rodin Clark**, **Angela**, and **Trixie. **Since their departure from Venture Town, after a dreadful encounter with corrupt royalty, mages, and a mysterious band of strangers, all any of them did was sleep upon leaving the station.

It had been three days that they stayed on-board, only exiting to purchase lunch boxes and shower in a separate washroom. Despite only talking when they stayed in the former house of the black-haired woman, they began to start becoming comfortable in that space.

At the moment, both the Dragon-Slayer and his feline partner had fallen asleep once again after another healing soak. Their wounds had begun healing much more quickly, but it still left them with deep wounds for Trixie, while Rodin's body had second-degree burns.

The young man's appearance had him sleeping with loose pants that reached past his knees, along with a black tank-top. Bandages still covered his left arm, reaching up to his shoulder, though his right had gotten better to the point only his forearm had them. He looked peaceful, giving a soft snoring while having his body twisted up in the sheets that were suppose to cover him.

Next to him was his feline partner, who still had on the cast and sling around her broken paw to keep it from moving and allow her comfort. Though unlike the Dragon-Slayer, Trixie's bandages were mostly all gone, except for one that covered her back, where a scar was developing.

The outfit she wore was a small halter top that roped around the back of her neck, snug and fitting around the chest area. On the bottom half, the feline was wearing small gray leggings with a Fairy-Tail emblem on it, courtesy of **Mirajane**. Like Rodin, she too was in a twisted state, snoring like a motor in a more than relaxed position.

That left Angela, who unlike her two traveling companions, was fully awake and sitting in the love seat on the opposite side. In hand was a notebook of sorts that had a couple of ripped patches on the cover, indicating that it saw struggles and attempted demolition.

The black-haired woman's outfit was a crop top, which was white in general with blue stripes on it that went in a diagonal fashion. Despite it's original fashion as loose, her ample chest made it almost skin-tight on her. Her bottom half had skin-tight shorts that reached halfway down until they stopped at the middle of her thighs.

Part of her arm was still wrapped in bandages, which reached down to the elbow, showing that she still had more healing to do.

With the curtain closed halfway, the room only lit on Angela's half, allowing the woman to continue with the activity she was doing.

Holding a pen in one hand, the black-haired mage was starting to hum a upbeat tune, treading carefully to not wake Rodin. Nearing where she believed the beat would continue, the woman began to whisper sing.

* * *

_**Whenever I'm with him,**_  
_**Something inside.  
**__**Starts to burnin'  
**__**And I'm filled with desire.**_

_**Could it be a devil in me?**_  
_**Or is this the way love's supposed to be?**_

_**It's like a heatwave,**_  
_**Burning in my heart.**_  
_**Can't keep from cryin'**_  
_**It's tearing me apart.**_

_**Whenever he calls my name,**_  
_**So slow, sweet and plain.**_  
_**I feel, yeah, yeah, well I feel that burning flame**_

_**Has my blood pressure got a hold on me?**_  
_**Or is this the way love's supposed to be?**_

_**Just like a heatwave,**_  
_**Burning in my heart.**_  
_**Can't keep from cryin'**_  
_**It's tearing me apart.**_

* * *

The woman began to sing her own back-up chorus while imaging how it would sound in her mind, making her almost want to sing it out loud. When she stopped, the woman looked over and saw the song she was crafting was halfway there, which gave her a furious blush across her cheeks.

Her thought of singing this personal song in front of millions of people made the mage sink into the seat, having steam emanating from her head.

Before she could hide away the evidence, the secret that Angela kept for so long was finally exposed by a voice.

"Wow... That was a beautiful song," Rodin remarked, looking down from his bed and smiling at her.

It was at that point, Angela wished for nothing more than lightning to strike down and just end it all. She brought up her knees, attempting to block any view of the man looking at her. The sounds of groaning made the woman look up from the notebook, seeing Rodin coming down from his bed and sitting on the other love seat in the room.

"How long did you listen?" She groaned in agony, secretly praying that he only heard her nearing the end of the song instead of from the beginning.

"Enough to make me wonder who _He _is, and wonder what exactly is the_ Heatwave_," he teased the now redden mage, who curled up into a ball and turned away.

The Dragon-Slayer stopped laughing and kept his eye on her, waiting to see whether she was going to stay in that shape.

"Oh come on, it wasn't anything horrible, you sang quite beautifully," he commented, releasing a suppressed burp from his motion sickness.

That comment made the black-haired woman turn her head, giving Rodin a surprise look, followed by a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" she inquired, slowly coming out of the fetal position and sitting right up once again, this time keeping her focus on the Dragon-Slayer.

"Yeah, I mean I've heard people sing and all, but that was pretty amazing, almost hypnotic too."

"Well..th-thank you," Angela replied, scratching the back of her head and putting the notebook on the empty seat. "I always loved singing, ever since I was a little girl, made me feel like a celebrity whenever a song started and I tried to copy it."

"Huh, guess that's why those broken windows were there, practice makes perfect after all."

His comment earned him a smack from the pencil thrown by the black-haired woman, which got him right in the head. Rubbing the sore spot that the pencil hit, he turned his attention to see her once again curl up and turn away, this time covering her body with a blanket.

Rodin gave a sad smile and walked over to her, placing the pencil back on top of the notebook before returning back to his original spot.

"Was that the first song you wrote?" He inquired, trying to get her to come out of the cocoon she placed herself in.

"No...I wrote a couple of other songs before, though being in a guild like Phantom, it wasn't like there was a quiet place for my thoughts," she remarked.

"Yeah, you can't exactly be expressive when having a dick for a father, though I'm amazed you still managed despite being always by the ass's side."

She soon freed herself from her own trapping and turned back to the Dragon-Slayer, lifting up her legs to cross them.

"Well, let's just say that what he taught me also got me out of boring meetings and such, he never even knew the difference."

Before he could reply, a second Angela manifested out of thin-air, only now she was wearing a bikini top and bottom, striking a pose.

A small dribble of blood, which Rodin hid quickly, squirted out as he turned away and tried to calm down from the view.

"**Thought Projection**, though unlike his useless one, mine's better cuz I can not only do myself, but make other people as well."

The manifestation of her soon changed into what looked like a rabid beast with black fur and red glowing eyes, who could kill anyone in mere-seconds.

The Dragon-Slayer finally looked, seeing that the projection was what she said, allowing him to exhale with relief.

"Geez, didn't know you were such a perv," his partner's voice now spoke, causing the two to look up and see the feline's head looking downward.

"I'm not a perv!" Rodin retorted, growling at his partner, causing both females to laugh at his now blushing face. It was now the Dragon-Slayer's turn to turn away and curl up into a ball, making his two companions laugh even harder.

When the two settled down, Trixie summoned up her wings, allowing the feline to gently glide down and land on Rodin.

"Aw, come on Rodie, we're just teasing," she remarked in a baby voice, causing the man to move his hips, pushing the feline to the other seat.

"Geez, you two almost seem more like siblings than partners," Angela commented, causing the feline to look over.

"Hell, at this point, flint-head wouldn't last an hour without me watching his butt," she replied with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh please," the Dragon-Slayer retorted, sitting back upright to get into the conversation. "If anything, I'm the one who always has to wonder and worry about you, hell, you probably would've rushed in charging if I didn't stop you."

The two now fell into an argument, with the black-haired woman spectating as she could feel how close the two of them were. Even though there was occasional name calling and wrestling, Angela felt the two genuinely cared for one another.

She was unaware that the thinking caused her to give a look of sadness, catching the attention of Rodin, who had the feline's paw pulling his cheek.

"Hey, you okay?" He inquired, speaking with an altered voice due to the distortion of his cheek, making it sound unusual.

The woman looked up and nodded, though still showing a depressed face, causing the Dragon-Slayer to sit up straight and look right at her.

"Are you sure?"

With the additional question, Angela was about to say yes, but knew there was no point in lying to him and Trixie. She moved her head down, covering both eyes with her long hair, almost hoping that Rodin couldn't see the tears welling up.

"I just... Is this really going to work out?" She inquired, making the feline raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Is what gonna work out?" Trixie remarked, focusing her attention on the black-haired woman.

Taking a deep breath, the black-haired woman got up to open the curtains, looking outside the window at the passing sites.

"I mean, my past isn't exactly an excuse I can just use to justify why I tried to hurt your friends. Especially when the reason Lucy Heartfillia got caught was because I helped out Juvia and Sol, which won't earn me a lot of friends... I'm just terrified that they won't accept me as a member, even if I do somehow manage to join up with Fairy-Tail."

The partners gave a glace at the other, knowing what their friend said made sense, especially when it came to their guild's philosophy. Though despite that, Rodin felt that even with the horrible stuff she got involved in, Angela deserved a chance to reconcile with the crimes.

"I won't lie, some people may not like you, and yeah, a few might turn out to down right hate you," Rodin remarked. "Though one I do know, Fairy-Tail isn't the type of guild to just leave good people behind, especially Master Makarov. He knows that things aren't always what they seem, heck, I heard that he let you and the rest of Phantom go after the end of the war right?"

The woman was about to protest at the suggestion, but suddenly remembered that he was right. Her only glance at the **Guild-Master** was after he effortlessly defeated the leader of the **Element 4**, leaving her and them in peace with their former master in a fetal position.

"You think so? I mean.."

"Listen girlie, rubble-for-brain's is right, the old man's not so uptight to let a fine piece like you to waste," the feline added but soon earned a flick on the ear from the Dragon-Slayer.

Ignoring the glare from his now silent partner-in-crime, Rodin smiled and nodded with confidence at the woman.

Even with the doubts still lingering in her mind, Angela couldn't help but feel comfort with her friend's smile, the very handsome smile...

Wait, handsome?

The thought soon snapped out the black-haired woman out of her funk, causing her to blush when she realized what was going on.

"You okay? You're looking kind of red around the face," Rodin inquired, unaware of what really caused the blushing. His only response was a quick nod from the woman, making him raise an eyebrow in question.

_"Oh Rodie, what am I gonna do with you?" _Trixie thought to herself, painfully seeing how dense her partner was at times, but decided to let him figure it out.

Before any of them could get in another word, the speakers across the train turned on, indicating that there would be an announcement.

_"Attention passengers, in just three more hours, we will be reaching Magnolia Station, please have tickets ready for departure."_

"Alright, guess we better get ready to get out," Trixie commented as she summoned up her wings once more, and flew up to the bed. In seconds, she was back to sleeping, leaving the two humans alone with one another.

Before either one could say anything, a large gurgling noise echoed from Rodin's stomach, making him turn a bit green as he quickly ran out towards the bathroom.

A few seconds passed, then suddenly a large burp shook the cabins, making the woman realize that it was Rodin's doing. All she could do was laugh, causing tears to pour down her face as she visualized how the Dragon-Slayer looked.

Though deep within her mind, a small part of her almost found it sexy, almost wanting to have him lie on her lap.

Wait...Did she really start to think like that?

* * *

_**Magnolia**_

In the city streets, the friendly atmosphere made most people walking by smile, enjoying their day. Most of the streets had crowds of people who were walking to look at what the town merchants and shops had to offer, especially for the mages passing through.

Anyone in the town could find something that they enjoyed; be it the incredible restaurants, boutiques, or anything that brought in customers.

Though for the small band of mages, their main focus was going towards the town's residential guild, **Fairy Tail**. After exiting their train, Rodin and Trixie found themselves taking in the smell of their home, missing it so much after their intense mission.

Rodin's current outfit was his loose-fitting pants with only a brown and black combat shirt he had found with his father's belongings. Due to the shortness of the sleeves, his bandaged forearms were out in the open, causing some to look on with shock when they noticed his guild-mark. It was the only part of his body healed and allowed to be in the open without the bandages.

The feline still had on her outfit she wore on the train, but now, the sling she had on was off, allowing her to move her whole arm without worry.

For Angela however, all it did was bring back the memories of the fights and pain that she inflicted And endured. Despite not seeing all of the city, she couldn't help but feel the guilt pour on with each step they took.

Her current outfit was now a teal colored short skirt and a white button up blouse with the sleeves rolled up towards her shoulders. Due to the heat at the moment, she opened it slightly, revealing her cleavage along with a small part of her red bra. For her footwear, she showed to have on high heeled boots that reached over her knees and up towards the middle of her thighs.

All three continued their walk in the same direction, slowly gaining way towards their destination. Though before long, Angela soon stopped following, making Rodin stay in his spot and turn to see her fidgeting with her fingers.

Feeling that she was still having doubts, the Dragon-Slayer walked over to her, stopping when she looked up at him.

"Everything alright?" He inquired, seeing her eyes starting to well up with tears, which she stopped by rubbing them to get it out and proceeded to nod at him. "You don't have to act tough, I get its hard now, especially since we're really here, but things will turn out okay, I promise."

The look on Rodin's face filled her with confidence, making the guilt less painful as she smiled with a wide grin, making him chuckle. Behind them, the feline shook her head, smiling at how dumb the two of them were, but knew that it was better to keep that to herself.

Before either of them could continue on, a group of voices got their attention, making them look in the direction of where it came from. While the partners had smiles on their faces, the woman soon had a look of horror.

From the direction they came in, **Team Natsu** were walking towards, with two familiar friends arguing while they walked.

"Wanna say that again, Flame-dick?! I didn't quite hear you!" **Gray Fullbuster** yelled, slamming his forehead against his rival, **Natsu Dragneel**, who was pushing back with gusto.

"You heard me Ice-puke, no way in hell am I ever gonna lose to a moron like you!"

"Who you calling moron, Ash-for-brains! If your head was any emptier, we'd have to get it looked at to see if there was even a brain in there!"

With that, the two were about to go on the offensive and brawl, **Erza Scarlet** gave one single glance, which could stop an entire army, causing the two to shake in fear.

"Are we going to have a problem boys?" She inquired, summoning up a brooding aura with her death stare, making the two shake their heads in fear and side hug the other with a smile.

"Hehe, just as reckless as always," **Lucy Heartfillia** commented with a nervous tone, looking over at the shaking boys.

"Aye Sir! These two just never learn, do they? **Happy** added, floating in mid-air while shaking his head at his two friends behavior.

The Celestial-mage laughed at her friends, wiping a tear that dropped down her eye as she looked forward, seeing two familiar faces in front of the group. She was about to wave at them, hoping to see how their mission went, but her smiling face soon turned to horror when the mage saw a familiar face.

Erza got a surprised look on her face as she saw the woman's face, turning towards the direction that the Celestial-Spirit mage was looking at.

"Hey, it's flint-head," Natsu remarked, letting go of his teammate and looking over towards the small group. Before taking a step towards them, Lucy quickly grabbed the Fire Dragon-Slayer and pulled him back.

"Don't Natsu! That woman's dangerous and she must've taken control of Rodin and Trixie," the blond-haired woman yelled out, causing the rest to have looks of shock on their faces.

With the Stone Dragon-Slayer and his group, it took them a few seconds to realize that Lucy already told them about Angela.

In seconds, Erza summoned up her magic, glowing brightly as the outfit she currently wore disappeared. In its place was her infamous Heaven's Wheel Armor with only two swords gripped in both hands, leading her to fly in an instant.

Before long, the requip-mage reappeared, gripping her sword tight and slashing down at the black-haired woman.

However, the impact of the slash collided with Rodin's scale arms, intercepting the blade and keeping it from cutting him. Though despite the additional protection, the sever pain shot through, making him almost buckle down on his knees.

Both the red-haired mage and black-haired mage looked on in shock at the Stone Dragon-Slayer's action.

"Rodin!" Trixie yelled out, rushing over to him as she looked at some of the bandages cutting open despite the scales endurance. It was a sign that while his magic energy was back to normal, his physical body wasn't yet ready to handle using spells.

"What is the meaning of this fiend! What curse have you placed on our ally," the requip-mage yelled out, pointing the blade once again at Angela.

"I'm not cursed Erza! She didn't do anything to me, I was the one who invited her to come along with me," Rodin remarked as he was breathing heavily from the pain.

Before long, a large ice-wall soon manifested itself from the ground, blocking both parties from continuing their attack. The source of the wall clapped his hands, getting both their attention as it came down quickly.

"Okay, everyone take a deep breath and calm down," Gray interrupted, walking to Erza as he looked over to his two guildmates. "Let's just figure out what exactly is going on. Lucy, Who is this woman exactly?"

The blond-haired woman had walked towards them with both Natsu and Happy behind her, stopping right next to the requip-mage.

"She's **Angela Porla**, the woman who not only kidnapped me and Trixie, but is also the biological daughter of that bastard, **Jose**"

Hearing that single statement, the tension between them now got even thicker than before, leaving the black-haired woman scared.

"That bastard?! You gotta be shitting me!" Natsu yelled out, summoning up his flames, which caused his fellow Dragon-Slayer to put up his defenses once more.

"Knock it off Natsu, she's not like that anymore," Rodin retorted, causing Angela's eyes to widen with surprise.

"You can't be sure of that, she lived with that horrible person for years! Who knows whether or not she's even a friendly," Lucy commented.

"Hold on there princess," Trixie now added, making the black-haired woman look down to the feline. "Sure she's an annoying pain in the ass, but Angela's not like that bastard."

"How can you say that, even after what she did to you," Happy added, dropping down at the same level as the girl cat.

"Because not only did she save me and Trixie, she also helped us take down some bastards that tried to blow up a whole building with people in it. I trust her as much as I trust you guys, that's why I brought her here, I invited her to join Fairy Tail."

With only that single statement, silence now enveloped the two groups, causing them to hold their breaths with the tension.

Erza broke it by requiping her normal clothes back on and walked towards Angela, who started to shake slightly at the S-class mage's presence. Despite seeing her share of powerful opponents, the Requip-mage gave a more deviant aura, making even the strongest of men tremble.

"Is this true?" She inquired in an adamant tone, making the Stone-Dragon Slayer and his partner turn their heads to look over their shoulders.

The black-haired woman licked her lips, swallowing a lump that got stuck in her throat before deciding to reply.

"...Yes, I did help them when they needed it and made sure they were safe, even going as far as trying to heal their wounds. Despite what you may think of me, I am not that bastard's child and never will be..."

The Requip-mage only kept her look strong on Angela, almost as if she was looking through the deepest regions of her soul. After a few more seconds of staring, Erza finally closed her eyes and released a breath of uncertainty, unable to truly tell if it was a lie.

"Erza..?" Lucy inquired, wondering what exactly was going through the swordsman's mind while she rubbed her chin.

"I can sense she's speaking the truth, but only the Master can truly decide whether or not she's worthy," was her response to the question.

While Natsu and Lucy both had looks of frustration on their faces, Rodin and Angela only smiled when they heard the red-headed woman's decision.

"Well, guess we better get there and let the old man decide," Gray added as he began to walk forward with his other teammates following.

The Stone-Dragon Slayer and his group continued on with their new party, though neither one spoke afterwords. All of them only walked in silence, which would soon break after coming upon a shocking surprise.

* * *

_**Fairy Tail**_

_**Guild-Hall**_

"They already finished this fast?!" Natsu yelled out in surprise.

"Guess Master really pushed them even harder than usual," Gray remarked with a smirk on his face.

"Still, the overall design Is vastly much more impressive than before," Erza added.

"No kidding, it's like I'm looking at another building," Lucy commented, looking with widen eyes.

"..Damn..." The trio of Rodin, Angela, and Trixie spoke out.

In front of them was the rebuilt Fairy Tail Guild, which was much more bigger than before and taller than the first one they were in. It's newer design was more more extravagent than the first one, while still retaning it's pyramid shape and having three flows instead of one. To anyone, it looked almost like a fortress than an actual place for mages, having a large bell at the top with the banner of their guild-mark.

After having admired the new building long enough, Erza turned around to look directly at the black-haired woman.

"At the moment, it might best for you to stay outside until we summon you," the requip-mage advised her, which she nodded to in agreement.

With that, the red-haired woman started walking towards the building with her friends following. Though Lucy and Natsu both gave the woman a dirty look before continuing on and entering along side the others.

Both Rodin and Trixie looked at their friend, who sighed in a sad tone before going towards a small bench close-by to sit on.

"I'll go on ahead, figure they see me with this broken arm, chances are they won't go all agro on her," the feline jested as she herself went walking to the door.

The Stone Dragon-Slayer shook his head and turned over to the black-haired woman, walking towards her to talk.

"I know what you're gonna say, and it's not a big deal for me, I didn't expect them to forgive me on sight," Angela addressed.

"Well despite their more unusual behavior, they're not so bad once you get to know them, trust me," Rodin replied with confidence.

"Tell that to your broke bandage," she pointed out before reaching into her bag to grab some more and unwrap it. In seconds, the black-haired woman wrapped up his wounds once again. When finished, Angela put the bandages back into her backpack.

With that, he thanked her and began his walk towards the door, turning back once more to see her wave at him.

His focus on her soon broke when he pushed the door open, letting out the large sounds of chatter coming from inside the building.

After pushing the door all the way out, Rodin saw most of the mages acting the same as usual, goofy and obnoxious with just a dash of annoying. Most were drinking themselves under the table, while others were trying to have some fun by playing cards.

Yep, that was Fairy-Tail in a nutshell, and Rodin wouldn't change any part of it.

"Oh Rodin, thank goodness!"A voice called out, making him turn to see **Mirajane** come towards him. She stopped and grabbed both his arms, seeing the bandages that were around them and gasping at how far up it went. "My goodness, I can't believe you two got this badly hurt on your mission, especially when it was suppose to be simple."

"Oh don't baby him Mira, you'll just make him even more soft," the feline blurted out from her stool while drinking watermelon wine. Her pain had come back and knew she needed something to numb it, so she began drinking and so far, it already got her halfway through it.

"Don't worry Mira, they're not too bad honestly," he remarked with a smile at the bartender, though it didn't have much effect in calming her down.

Before she could ask what happened, a familiar old voice spoke out in an unexpected way.

"Ah, there's my two Wonderful children," an old-voice remarked with joy as an extended hand pattered the Stone-Dragon Slayer hard. Despite the incredible pain now coursing down his back, Rodin looked over and saw **Master Makarov**, with a wide grin on his face. "I'm so happy the two of you returned safe and sound!"

"..Good to..see you Master," Rodin struggled out, trying his best to ignore the excruciating pat on the back. It was almost like someone was hitting his back with spikes, hitting right at the exact same spot every moment.

"Hey old man, lay off! The poor guy's practically one big bruise!" Trixie yelled out, making Makarov stop and look back to the feline, seeing her broken arm for the first time.

"Trixie! What the hell happened?!" The master yelled out, making most of the guild fall flat on their faces.

"You just barley noticed?!" More than half of the building yelled out, making the master chuckle in embarrassment, then looking over to see Rodin's arms bandaged.

"Looks like both of you went through some pretty rough stuff..What exactly happened?" He inquired.

"Before he goes into that Master, Rodin seemed to have brought someone with him from his mission," Erza interrupted as she walked towards them.

"Is that so?" The wizard-saint stated, looking towards Rodin, who nodded and walked over to the door to open it and pass through, closing it behind him.

A few minutes passed as the door opened once more, only this time, Angela passed through with Rodin following in after he closed it. Right when she entered, more than half of the male guild-members whistled out, throwing the cheesiest pick-up lines ever.

Their bellowing soon stopped when the S-class mage gave her glare, silencing all of them in mere-seconds. The black-haired woman stopped next to Rodin as she looked down at the Guild-Master, who was almost infatuated with the young lady.

"Old-man, your mouth's hanging out," Cana blurted out, drinking from her giant barrel afterwords, causing Makarov to close it.

"Well my dear, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, may I ask your name?" The Guild-Master remarked in a sophisticated manner, slowly moving his hand to give her butt a slap.

Angela looked over to Rodin, who smiled and nodded, encouraging her to take a deep breath and finally say it out loud.

"My name is Angela Porla, though you may have meet my father Master Makarov, Jose Porla.."

With that single sentence, everyone in the guild stopped their tomfoolery, turning in the direction of the small group. Within mere seconds, all of them gave her the most threatening glare ever, a few even got up and were getting ready to attack.

The statement was so strong that Cana even stopped drinking, immediately turning sober as she stood up as well.

Empty silence build tension that was very thick in the room, even causing the Wizard-Saint to retract his hand. The only thing anyone could see was his eyes hidden in shadows, making most of them wonder what exactly he was thinking about.

"Master...I know what it may seem like, but she's not an enemy anymore. In fact, if she wasn't the-"

The Stone-Dragon Slayer got interrupted when he saw Makarov raise his hand, which he knew meant that he had to stay quiet. After Rodin stopped talking, the Guild-Master walked over to a bar-stool, jumping on top of it and sitting on the table.

"Young one," his voice came out in a serious tone, causing Angela to look over and shake slightly. "I know who are, in fact I remember seeing you when your father attended the Guild-Master's meeting. You had to stay outside while we talked, which to me, seemed a bit cruel given that it was raining and you didn't have an umbrella. Despite that, I sensed you weren't like him, but given what your former guild has done to us, I must ask, why are you here?"

Even when he finished, no one dared to protest against the master, knowing full-well how mad he'd be if they did. The only sounds were shakily breathing coming from the black-haired woman, trying to keep calm.

Unlike her own father, the aura around Makarov was a more calming and protective one, staying on-guard against anything thrown at him. Even though it was protective, Angela knew well enough that he was aiming the aura right at her, still unsure of her intentions.

Remembering the smile that convinced her to reveal herself, the black-haired woman looked straight at him. Even with the death stares thrown at her, she didn't falter and spoke from the heart.

"I never agreed with anything Jose did, especially when it involved innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. And while it may sound like an excuse, He held my mother hostage and forced me to continue serving him or else she'd die from a curse. Team Shadowgear, Lucy Heartfilia, and Trixie the feline were people I wished I helped instead of hurt."

She took a pause to look at the Stone-Dragon Slayer before turning back to the master.

"I never wanted any of this, even after Phantom disbanded, I thought there was nothing left for me, until I met Rodin. He showed me how much helping people was more rewarding than anything, especially when it changed lives. I know that my past won't ever be gone from my life, but I want to make a better future, starting with becoming a better person..."

With her heart-warming speech ending, there was signs of mixed feelings within the guild-member, especially Lucy.

The Celestial-Spirit mage knew all too well how one's Father could try to have a horrid affect on them, which made the two kindred spirits. It was almost like looking in a mirror, seeing her own reflection as the black-haired woman kept her attention on Makarov.

Mirajane saw what looked like a twinkle in the Wizard-Saint's eye, knowing full well how much of an impact it had on him.

"Well-said!" Makarov yelled out, jumping up to the bar counter with enthusiasm before continuing. "You've got the makings of a great-mage, one who will go far with the right guidance and allies alongside you. While I know some will not forgive so easily, I cannot stand-by and allow someone like you to fall into the darkness. If you are willing to forgive yourself, then I invite you to join with us in Fairy-Tail!"

A couple of handful of people cheered at the statement, leaving a few of the others to grumble in silence at the decision made. All Angela could do was widen her eyes, soon feeling tears of joy drop down as she nodded vigorously at the invitation.

Rodin and Trixie cheered along with the others, smiling with joy at how their newest friend now became their newest guildmate.

While the worst of it was over, the black-haired woman would soon learn that there was going to be tougher days ahead of her.

* * *

_**Whoo! Angela's now the newest member of Fairy-Tail and passed the brutal glares and stares. Thanks so much for reading this, it will be my last chapter I do for the next two weeks since I will be starting school once again on Monday. For those wondering what song Angela was singing, it was the same one I posted on the last chapter, only now with more of the lyrics. I hope you all enjoyed this, I will be looking forward to continuing this small filler arc as we slowly make our way to the next big one. I will see you all next time on Chapter 28: Fairy Hill's**_


	28. Fairy Hills

_**Chapter 28**_

_**Fairy Hills**_

* * *

**_Fairy Tail_**

**_Guild-Hall_**

"Alright, just stay still," **Mirajane** instructed, holding the guild-mark emblem stamp she often for new members. Moving it forward, the object pressed against a tanned chest, holding it for a few seconds until the bartender removed it.

The spot glowed as bubbles manifested from it, revealing the Fairy-Tail emblem in a purple color.

"Well, it looks better than I expected," **Angela** remarked, looking down at her chest to see her dedication to the new guild she joined.

After the ordeal with the black-haired woman and **Guild-Master** **Makarov**, everyone went back to their normal routines. Though a small handful kept their eyes on the woman, especially Lucy, who still had a bad feeling about her.

After buttoning up her shirt to hide a small bit of her cleavage, Angela sighed and smiled for the first time in a long while. Even with the glares, she knew that even if some didn't trust her, there was a few who actually did and liked her as well. It made the woman feel like for the first time, there was a place where people actually cared for her well being.

"By the way," she inquired, looking at the corner, which housed the crying Wizard-Saint as he was nursing his drink. "Is the Master gonna be okay? I mean, I never seen someone from the **Ten Wizard-Saints** act like that."

"Oh you'll get used to it, trust me, this isn't the first time such a large sum of money slipped the Master's fingers before," Mira remarked while cleaning a mug.

After hearing from the bartender how much the reward money was, the old-mage had dollar signs in his brain. Though when **Rodin** and **Trixie** explained the situation on their last mission, all the happiness left him soulless. The only remedy, recommended by a drunken **Cana**, was to drink his sorrows with some of the strongest liquor the guild had.

It was one of many times that the black-haired woman would encounter such craziness after spending a few days with Fairy Tail.

"So about Rodin and Trixie," Angela addressed, making the bartender stop and look back at her customer. "Will those two be alright?"

After everything had settled, there was still the issue of the pair needing a check over to make sure their bodies were alright. To that end, the Guild-Master instructed **Erza **to take them to the guild's healer, **Porlyusica**.

Though unlike **Natsu** and his partner **Happy**, the duo were more than willing to go, but worried about the black-haired woman's situation. After some convincing from Mira, they followed the scarlet-haired woman to the forest where the healer lived.

"There's no need to worry, they're in good hands for sure, though it's likely they won't be going on jobs anytime soon," the bartender replied.

All Angela could do was look down at the counter and sigh, hoping that her limited healing capability had helped in anyway.

"Though right now, you should be a bit more concerned about yourself, do you have any plan in terms of living here?"

That statement snapped the mage out of her stare, making her realize that despite agreeing to the offer the Stone-Dragon Slayer gave. She didn't have too much money left over after having to pay off fees and mortgages from her mother's insurance.

Grabbing her travel backpack that was on the floor, Angela dug into one of the pockets, pulling out an envelope. It showed to have a bit of a bulge, indicating that there was something inside of it that she held with care.

Opening it, the contents revealed to be **jewels**, and from the looks of it, ranging at around almost 100,000 total. She knew the apartment cost in **Magnolia** was incredibly high, even with what she currently had, it wasn't enough to survive for a month.

"Damn...I thought I had more than this," the black-haired woman muttered, letting the envelope fall on the bar counter. After it landed, she let her own head drop, hitting her forehead against the hard wood, letting out a slight wince in pain.

Mira grabbed it and looked inside, counting how much she money was inside it, then hummed in concern when she realized the amount.

"Well, you won't be living in one of the apartments here with this amount, but I think there's a better solution," she informed her.

With that, Angela quickly shot up, looking at the bartender with widen eyes, wondering what she meant by that.

Little did she know, the place Mira mentioned would become one of the wackiest places she ever found herself in.

* * *

**_Evening_**

**_Fairy Hills_**

With the sun setting, a calming darkness began to envelop the sky and most of the town, causing a feeling of relaxation for most. Having finished work for the day, most wanted nothing more than to curl up in their beds and sleep for the night, especially for those who worked the next day.

The lights illuminated the way for those still on night-shifts, allowing them to see people walking by. Within those streets, Angela and Mira were now making their way through the city, heading towards an unknown destination.

After having spent most of the day in the Guild, talking and meeting some of the newer faces, the black-haired woman decided it was time to sleep. Though due to the bartender having an idea of where to stay, she had to wait until they finished cleaning up and making sure everything was ready for tomorrow.

At first, it was an awkward silence between the two, especially since Angela didn't know how to strike up a conversation. The familiar face of **Levy McGarden** all but made her clam up, keeping away from everyone in the process, feeling the guilt inside her heart.

Mira could feel the timid aura around her, and decided to try breaking it as to not allow her to seclude herself tomorrow.

"So, despite all that happened today, you looked like you were having fun today," she started the conversation.

"..You think so," Angela remarked, looking over to the white-haired bartender as she nodded with a smile.

"Normally all new members get confused by the way we act, you were surprisingly calm about it though, that never happens."

"Well despite it's unusual behavior, Fairy-Tail is similar to Phantom, only difference is the lights and no one's trying betray one another."

Both of them laughed at the statement, breaking the tension between the two as they reached a staircase. The black-haired woman raised an eyebrow and looked over to Mira, who nodded and began climbing them.

Angela simply shrugged and readjusted her bag before following the bartender, feeling the cold air start up. While she walked, the black-haired woman couldn't help but smell salt in the air, indicating that they were near a beach. In all the years she spent as a mage, not once did she ever go on a mission that involved a relaxing day at the beach, or any kind of relaxing for that matter.

Maybe now without an oppressive father, she'd finally have a chance to do things she liked for once too.

Her train of thought derailed when the sounds of Mira's heels stopped clicking, indicating that she stopped walking. Angela looked up and saw a large structure come into view, one that made her jaw drop and eyes widen with surprise.

In front of the women was a building that was both large and wide, enough to have more than a dozen rooms inside of it. The building was one of brick, having a large central elongated section at whose sides sit two wings protruding outwards. One to the center's right acting as the main entrance, which takes the form of a double door with a pyramid-shaped upper part topped by a similarly pyramid-shaped roof, held up by wooden beams.

Standing above two stone-pillars was a sign, _Fairy Hills_, which acted as a sort of welcoming to all those who passed through them.

"What is this place..?" Angela inquired, breaking off her stare and walking towards Mira at the entrance.

"This is Fairy Hills, the female dorm of Fairy Tail, especially for those who prefer to stay close to the guild than go find an apartment," Mira remarked. "It's quite pricey but I think you'd be better off living here than trying to find an apartment this late."

"How much is it?"

"You've got about enough for a month's rent, which means you'll have to do multiple missions in order to keep up with it.

That remark made the black-haired woman worry, especially since the Guild-Master only allowed her to go on missions with someone else. It was a form of probation to assure him that Angela could not only work with others, but could be capable of keeping the guild's reputation safe.

All Angela could do was sigh, looking back to the bartender, who gave a gentle smile to the woman, almost reminding her of her mother.

"Alright, I'll do it," the black-haired mage remarked.

"Good, you'll see that things will work out. I have to get back home, I'll see you at the guild tomorrow," was the last words the bartender said before walking away, heading back down the stairs.

Now that she was alone, the nervousness soon returned, making her shiver at the thought of what they would say once she entered. Images of the judging faces of every woman from Fairy Tail entered her mind, glaring and thinking how much they despised her.

Though if it hadn't been for a familiar smile that came from all of them, she would've likely run away and find a motel to stay in.

Taking in one more deep breath, the black-haired woman moved her hand towards the door-knob, gently twisting it. After pulling it, she walked through the gateway of light, closing it behind her.

All Angela could wonder was how the heck she was going to survive her first night alone, in a building full of angry women.

* * *

_**Inside**_

If someone had told the black-haired mage that she would be entering a place that seemed too normal, she would've laughed. Though after passing through the doorway, anything with Fairy-Tail was possible.

Upon passing the door, the woman found herself looking at the main lobby of the building, which almost felt like a hotel lobby. It wan an elongated room which possessed wooden floor and ceiling, and its walls, enforced by beams, had bricks in their lower part. To the entrance's right sits the wooden counter, complete with a flowerpot, a lamp and some stationery.

Looking around, she found that there was another person sitting behind the counter, looking over some paperwork.

The woman showed to be a dark-skinned girl sporting an orange cat hat, holding back her blond hair that reached past her shoulders. The outfit she was wearing was a pair of pajamas that were orange with white spots on them, on both the shirt half and the leggings.

Angela waited a few seconds to see if the clerk had noticed her, but didn't say anything, making it proof positive.

_'Well, here goes everything' _the black-haired woman thought to herself as she walked up to the desk. She then cleared her throat, causing the girl to look up from the papers in her hand, looking now at the new person that came in.

"Hi, can I help you?" she inquired, putting what she had in her hand down and giving her guest undivided attention.

"Yes... I'm Angela, I don't know if we met, but I joined Fairy-Tail as of today-"

"Oh right, the one who hurt our allies..."

That remark made the area tense with silence, almost like someone had just announced that a person close to them passed away. The only sounds that anyone could hear was the clock's hand clicking away each time a second passed.

Before long, Angela thought it best to just get her stuff and start walking away, thinking that there might be some empty hotels she could find.

"You didn't just come to tell her that, did you?" A voice inquired, causing both girls to turn in the direction of where it came from, revealing it to be Erza.

The requip-mage's current outfit was similar to the clerk-girl's, only instead, the colors were purple and red. Additionally, the designs on both the shirt and leggings were the emblem of the **Heart Kreuz ****company**, which made most of her battle armor.

"Oh, Lady Erza-"

"Erza. You may simply call me Erza, there's no need to be so formal with me, we are in the same guild after all," she replied, making the black-haired woman nod in response. "So why have you come here so late at night?"

All Angela could do was close her eyes for a few seconds, taking in a deep breath before exhaling and giving her statement.

"While I am here to stay, I haven't exactly planned on where I would actually be sleeping at tonight, which is what lead me here. Mira thought it better that I try and move in here with what I have, make it easier for me to find job requests and such. I know you two may not trust me, but if I can just spend a few days here on what money I have, I'll be sure to leave before long, I swear."

The two woman in front of the black-haired girl looked at one another before turning their attention back to their guest.

"How much do you have exactly," the clerk inquired as she pulled out a drawer and some paperwork from the inside.

Angela dropped her backpack and rummaged through the pockets, finding the envelope full of jewels that she had. With it in hand, she walked over and gave it to the blond-haired woman, who began to count them in her mind, finishing after a few seconds.

"You've got about a month's rent here, which means you'll be able to stay, but afterwords, you either have it or you leave," she stated with a cold tone.

With a sigh of relief, the black-haired mage nodded at what the clerk said, understanding the consequences. With the money tucked into a drawer, the blond-haired girl brought out some paperwork Angela began to sign.

Erza's only action was leaning against the doorway, waiting for their guest to finish up and grab the key for her new room.

With one last signature, the black-haired woman was now an owner of a room right there in Fairy Hills, which meant she finally had a place to sleep for the time being. With that taken care of, the clerk yawned and got up from her seat, passing the key to Angela and heading through a door to head to her own room for sleep.

"Let me see the key," the requip-mage remarked, taking the key and looking at which number it was. "Come, I'll show you to the room."

Grabbing the bag left on the floor, Angela simply walked behind Erza, looking around at the building to see how it was on the inside. They passed through the door, beginning their trip into the building.

On the walk, the newest Fairy-Tail mage noticed how it was almost similar to how the main lobby was, indicating that the designs would be the same for the rooms.

She past through another hallway, sensing magic energy coming from there, meaning that the rooms in that hall were already taken. After the third hallway, the requip-mage finally stopped at a door on the last, which met with a wall with a window in it.

The two women stopped at **Room 1193**, which matched the same numbers on the key as well.

"Here we are, your new home," Erza declared, handing the key back to the black-haired woman, but not before giving a serious look on her face. "While I respect the master's decision to give you a chance, know this; If you even consider a thought of betraying Fairy-Tail. Forgiveness won't come, I will..."

With that last thought, the red-haired woman took her leave, heading back to her own room, which wasn't that far from Angela's. After hearing the door close, the former phantom-mage simply put the key inside, unlocking it and opening it to her room.

The last thing anyone would see was her entering and closing it behind her, finally having a place to sleep after an eventful day.

* * *

**_Morning_**

**_Fairy Hills, Beach_**

The soft splash of the water calmly washed ashore before drawing back into the large open sea, giving a peaceful serenity around the area. With the light of the morning sun slowly rising, it began to spread across the light brown sand, hitting it and the trees that grew from it.

A shadow soon past through the sunlight, blocking it's path for only moments while it moved down the beach itself. Panting from the shadow echoed as it kept going, revealing itself to be Angela, who was jogging across the beach for the tenth time.

After waking up, the black-haired woman was in an uncomfortable place, not yet used to living in her new home. With that in mind, she decided that a little bit of early morning training could be the thing needed to help her relieve the feeling.

The outfit she currently wore was a black sports bra with two white stripes across the front, wearing black finger-less gloves that covered her wrist. One noticeable thing was the fact her long black hair was now tied together into a ponytail, keeping it from getting into her eyes while she ran.

Her lower-half had on matching skin-tight leggings that showed off the definitions of her body quite well. She also wore athletic shoes that completed her outfit and allowed her to continue running longer than usual.

Since morning, she had done nothing but build her endurance with the running, making her body sweat like a fountain. By the time the sun shined against the mountain side of the beach, Angela was sitting on the sand, breathing heavily from finishing her last routine.

After wiping her forehead, the woman went towards where a towel was hanging and grabbed it, wiping off as much of the sweat as she could. With most of it now gone, the black-haired mage moved her hand to grab a canteen on the sand, picking it up and opening it to take a long drink of water.

When she had enough, Angela stopped to take a breath, closing the canteen before putting it back on the floor once again.

"And here I believed I was the only one to wake up this early to train," a voice admitted, making the black-haired woman turn instantly and get into fighting position.

Standing behind her was Erza, who like Angela, was getting in some early morning training.

Like her fellow guild-mate, the requip-mage's outfit was a sports-top with her signature red color with her own hair in a pony-tail. Though unlike the black-haired woman, her bottoms were blue with white-stripes down the side, leading to athletic shoes on her feet.

"It's sort of become a morning ritual for me, keeps focus and centered, even at my worst days," she replied, lowering her arms and looking at the S-class mage.

"I see, though it seems your reflexes are a bit sluggish, if I were an enemy, you'd have already died and I would go to attack the others."

The statement made Angela glare, making her annoyed by how she thought Erza was treating her at that moment.

"I was able to keep up with Rodin, who's as powerful as Natsu Dragneel, so if anything, my skill isn't something to underestimate."

"Is that so?"

With that reply, Erza's whole body now glowed, which meant her magic was now active as she summoned up a new outfit to wear. Instead of her normal armor, Erza now wore a sarashi that wrapped around her chest, covering her breasts.

On her lower-half, the requip-mage now had on flame patterned bottom hakama, which stopped at her ankles.

"Then come, let's see how good you are."

That last remark made the black-haired mage grit her teeth, getting back into position, her attention now fully on Erza. Both felt like this was a long time coming, especially after the requip-mage learned the truth about what Angela did.

The two women simply glared at the other, waiting for something to trigger the sparring match they were about to have. The catalyst for the fight came in the form of a large wave crashing down on the shore, causing the black-haired woman to charge first.

Focusing her **Shatterpoint** magic into both fists, the black-haired woman began by attempting to delivery a series of punches right at her opponent.

With each one, the requip-mage easily dodged them, moving just out of the way to avoid the initial attacks with ease. After the last punch thrown, Erza swiftly grabbed Angela's extended arm, shifting her weight and throwing her opponent over her hip.

The black-haired woman's vision spun around while she was in the air, eventually stopping when her body slammed on the sand. Despite the hard toss, the impact wasn't as bad due to the sand's density, making it less painful than it would've been if it was on solid rock.

Though the throw wasn't enough to deter Angela as she pushed herself off the sand, landing right on her feet and turning back to Erza.

Pushing off from the sand, the black-haired mage summoned up her **Shatter-Buster **spell, focusing it into her left hand. The spinning blue orb shined as she closed in on her opponent, yelling out as she attempted to thrust it right into her stomach.

Erza side-stepped, easily avoiding it but slammed down her elbow right on the back of her opponent, causing the orb to slam down into the ground. Though in doing that, the intense speed of the sphere caused sand to explode and blind the red-haired woman, causing her to jump back to get out of the sand.

It took a few seconds for her to wipe out what small parts of sand got into her eyes, but by then, Angela had managed to land a successful roundhouse kick right to the her opponent's sides.

Though the attack was well planned, it wasn't enough to cause Erza to react as she simply grabbed the leg upon impact and sent her flying once again.

This time, the black-haired woman slammed on her back, groaning from the impact dealt to her by the requip-mage's elbow. Before she could move, the sound of a sword made her stop and open her eyes to see her opponent now holding a katana pointing right at her face.

The tension between the two was thick enough to cut as Angela could only look on with widen eyes, wondering if her opponent was going to finally end her.

The next thing that happened surprised the black-haired mage, who saw the red-haired woman return her sword away, and offer a hand to her.

While hesitate, Angela took the hand and got up, seeing a serious look on her fellow-guildmate's face.

"I must admit, you've shown to have quite an incredible potential, but until you can overcome your hesitation and truly let go of your fears. You will only become a burden to everyone in the guild, especially if anyone of them is ever in danger, and I will not allow that to ever happen."

With those single words, Erza requipped back into her training outfit and walked away, leaving Angela to contemplate what she said.

The only thing heard was the laps of the waves, gradually moving up the beach before returning down to the ocean and so on. All the black-haired mage could do at that point was hide her eyes with her loose hair, walking towards the dormitory to shower after the intense sparing match she had.

* * *

_**Angela's Room**_

"Oh god...That's the stuff," she remarked in bliss, slowly sinking her body into the warm water of the tub. A long sigh of relief exited her body as the effects of the bath starting working their magic on most parts of her body, especially where Erza had dealt some damage.

When the black-haired mage finally returned to the dorms, she decided that it was time to wash off all the sweat from the training done. Even though Mira explained about the open bath for all of the girls there, Angela thought it better to try and shower in her own than in there.

Running both hands through her now damp hair, the woman couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration, annoyed by how things were turning out. All she could do was sink into the water, stopping right where her eyes were while blowing bubbles from the water.

Before long, the thought of simply leaving and trying to get away from everything crossed her mind. Though before she could think further, the faces of Rodin and Trixie popped back into her mind, reminding Angela why she was there.

_"I knew from the start it wasn't going to be easy, but I made a promise, not just to me but to them that I'd give it a shot." _She thought, moving up to grab a bottle of shampoo and rubbing it deep into her scalp, finishing off with another dunk into the bath water.

With the soap gone from her hair, Angela finally got up and grabbed a towel, drying off as much of her body as she could before getting out. With the large towel covering most of her private areas, the black-haired mage walked out of the bathroom, going towards her bed to grab the change of clothes she had.

The outfit she would wear for the day consisted of a black sleeveless shirt with spagetti straps that were around her shoulders. Due to her large bust, the shirt stretched out quite a bit, but didn't break or rip any part of it. It reached down to her bottom half, which had a pair of dark blue low-rise leggings, which ended at the pair of adventure boots she had on her feet.

She wore one single accessory, which was a black choker with what looked like a locket on it, completing her outfit.

"Well, might as well go see what the world has to offer me," Angela muttered to herself, looking in the mirror to make sure that her clothes were okay.

With a nod of approval, the woman stepped back and walked towards her door, opening it to exit and head out. Though to her surprise, one of her fellow guild-mates was the door, giving a glare right at the black-haired woman.

The woman's name was **Bisca**, whose outfit consisted of a Western-style hat on her head, a light, polka-dotted neck scarf, and a pair of reddish brown boots. Her body had on a short, strapless one-piece dress decorated by spiraling motifs with darker, striped edges.

Angela was a bit surprised that someone knew about her room, making her think that Erza told everyone in the dorm. After a few seconds of silence, she decided to break the tension that surrounded the two of them.

"May I help you?" she inquired, causing the green-haired woman to scoff, looking up and down at her fellow guild-mate's body.

"Psht, no wonder the master allowed you in, he'll likely let any girl with big jugs enter," she retorted.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, I don't what kind of spell or trick you did to make him change his mind, but I'm here to tell you: I'm not gonna fall for it."

That remark made the black-haired woman glare at Bisca, beginning to feel more and more irritated by the second. Even if she did do something to make the master forgive her, who was she to tell her that she didn't belong there? Sure she made mistakes, but Angela knew that this was a chance to start over, no matter what.

"Look, I don't care what you think of me, I know where I stand in this guild, so you can knock off the big bad routine and just leave me alone."

With that last statement, Angela grabbed her purse and walked away, closing the door behind her and leaving for the exit. All Bisca could do by that point was glare, knowing that she wasn't going to let that woman off so easily, especially after everything she did to her family.

That day, everyone's opinion of Angela would change drastically, especially for those who once saw her as cruel and heartless.

* * *

**_Looks like Angela's got a little bit of tension going on with the rest of Fairy Tail, let's just hope she starts getting on their good side. Thank you all for reading this, I posted it a bit earlier due to needing to study the rest of this Labor Day weekend. Thanks to those who added this story to their favorites, it means the world to me how much you truly like it. Stay tuned for Chapter 29: The Labors of Trust._**


	29. Labors of Trust

_**Chapter 29**_

_**The Labors of Trust**_

**_Just to clarify, this arc will be about five chapters so it doesn't take too long to get on to the next major arc, it'll be that way with every other filler arc I do from here on out unless I state otherwise. Also, as one of the reviewers stated, there will be some parts changed from the original to better enhance and aid my version of the series._**

**_Enjoy and once again, I do not own Fairy Tail._**

* * *

**_Magnolia_**

**_Fairy-Tail, _****_Guild-hall_**

It was a typical day for most of the Fairy-Tail mages, most were on break while drinking their favorite booze, and others just goofed off or were in a mini-party of their own. For most, this was a common past-time that many enjoyed, although for one newcomer, it was something that she still needed to get used to.

Entering through the large doors, **Angela Porla** found herself getting stares once again by her new allies, though a few had nosebleeds and eyed her like a piece of meat. Others had glares of disdain and anger, wanting nothing more than to kick her out of the building so they wouldn't have to look at her.

Luckily, **Makarov Dreyar** was in today and overlooking everything from his office, which meant if anything happened, he would know and not be happy about it. Though unknown to most, he was busy reading dirty magazines, drooling and ogling the pictures like he was a kid in a candy store.

Ignoring most of the stares, the black-haired woman made her way to the bar counter, where **Mirajane Strauss** was finishing the last of the breakfast dishes.

The outfit she currently wore was her typical sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt.

Hearing the sound of something hit the counter, she turned over to find her next customer with her head and elbows on the counter.

"Good Morning, did you sleep well? She inquired, putting the last clean dish away and turning to grab a hand-towel to dry her hands with.

"Yeah... Gotta admit, those beds are really comfy, been a while since I had a good night's rest," she replied while standing up straight and yawning. It was probably the only time she could yawn and still feel groggy without actually being tired.

"I'm so glad to hear, I was a bit worried that they wouldn't let you stay there. Did any of the girls give you trouble?"

Hearing that question, Angela remembered the morning incidents with **Erza** and **Bisca**, both of whom weren't in the guild at the moment. Her initial thought was to say yes, but knew that was gonna cause trouble, something she was hoping to try and avoid.

"No, no problems whatsoever, though I did try to stay out of their way this morning, figured it would be easier like that."

Mira heard the uncertainty in the woman's tone, knowing that she was lying, but figured that Angela would tell the bartender the truth when she felt more comfortable with her. It was the same with most mages that sat at the counter, to them, she was the confidant that people could tell her problems to without worry about being judged.

"In the meantime, I'm still wondering why exactly I am put on this _probation_, is it always like this with new members?"

"This is a first for us actually, Master has never done this sort of thing with anyone who wanted to join, least not since I've been here."

That answer made the black-haired mage groan, slamming her forehead against her arms, wondering how long it would actually take for them to trust her.

"Well since you're here, why not go and take a mission, that should help speed things up with your status, even a little."

That suggestion made Angela sit up straight once more, looking over to where the job listings were at, wondering what kind of work she could find.

"Though wait, Master Makarov said I needed someone to come with me, and I don't exactly think that anyone would be willing to come along."

The white-haired woman placed her hand against her chin, thinking of who would be willing to join up with Angela. A couple of names came up, but due to some being away on missions and others hating her, she couldn't ask them without getting sass.

Inspiration struck Mira as she snapped her fingers, realizing that there was one who would help the woman out regardless of her status.

"**Elfman!**," Mira yelled out, catching the attention of her younger sibling, who was in the middle of telling a story with a couple of other mages.

Like his sister, the Take-Over mage was in his regular outfit, which was a dark blue jacket with purplish blue inners, held closed on the front by a line of large buttons, with similar buttons on the sleeves' back and the zip located on the high collar left open.

When he saw Mira motioning him towards her and Angela, he stood up and quickly walked over there, stopping at the counter.

"What is it Nee-san?" He inquired, turning to see the guild's new mage look away, trying not to make eye contact with the man twice her size.

"I need a big favor from you Elfman, do you think you can go with Angela on a mission, she's kind of stuck without a partner," the bartender inquired.

His sharp eyes turned away from Mira, and focused on Angela, who could feel the intense stare she was getting from the large man.

Despite his initial resentment to her, knowing what she did to both Lucy and Levy, Elfman couldn't say no to a request from his sister. It wouldn't be manly if he just ignored a woman when she needed help, even with her status.

"Of course I will, A real man doesn't say no to a request, especially one made from his family," he declared with confidence.

The answer made Mira smile with joy as she looked over to Angela, who glanced over and gave a soft smile, feeling a sense of relief wash over her.

"Great, and I know just the mission that would be perfect for the two of you," the bartender remarked, stepping away and walking over to the job listings.

With her only source of protection gone, Angela could only look ahead, ignoring the glances from the **Take-Over** **mage** every few seconds. It was just an awkward silence between them, with only the sounds of the other guild-members in the background to keep it from getting worse. Some part of her just wanted someone, anyone to just come to her and talk, even if it was just to say that they and their friend didn't like her.

Before either of them could break it, the sounds of heels clacking made them turn to find the bartender coming back with a paper in hand.

After she entered back behind the bar, Mira placed the paper in front of the two, making Angela grab it to read what exactly the job was.

* * *

**_Mages Needed_**

**_Looking for Fairy-Tail mages to give magic demonstrations, must have good control._**

**_Reward: 7,000 Jewels_**

* * *

"A performing job? I didn't know that there was these kinds of jobs, all I ever saw back in **Phantom** was search and destroy, recover, or capturing requests," Angela remarked. The memories of having to endure such tasks came flooding back, making her shiver slightly at how many times she almost came close to death.

"Normally, it depends on what the Guild-Master decides is a proper job for the guild, which is practically any job someone needs in Magnolia," Mira replied.

Elfman snagged the paper out of the black-haired to read it, grinning at the request with excitement.

"Now I can show how manly I really am to the kids, especially the boys!" He bellowed out, making some of the mages cheer at the enthusiasm of the white-haired mage.

The older Strauss sibling clapped at her younger brother's enthusiasm, looking over at the black-haired woman. Angela simply chuckled, amused by how confident the tanned-mage was, never hearing something like that before.

"Well you two better head over there," Mira remarked while looking at the clock in the guild-hall. "They wanted the mages to arrive there before noon, which gives you about an hour to walk towards the school."

With that, both the black-haired woman and white-haired male nodded as they got up from their seats and headed out through the doors.

The bartender silently hoped that this first mission would help the newest member of Fairy Tail open up more. She loved the guild more than anything and didn't want someone who just became part of the family to become an outcast, it reminded her too much of her own past.

Her train of thought was soon interrupted by the doors slamming against the wall hard, echoing the impact and causing most of Fairy-Tail to look over towards the entrance.

Standing in the doorway was a tanned young woman with blue eyes and silver short hair that hangs in bangs split in the middle and drapes over most of her face while covering her left eye.

Her attire consisted of a short black leather jacket that shows off her midsection and large amount of cleavage. The sleeves are slightly rolled up to just below her elbows and she wears a pair of black fingerless gloves.

Her bottoms appears to be blue skin tight chaps that expose a black bikini bottom and most of her inner thighs. She also sports a pair of grey cowboy boots with two large buttons on their sides and flare out at the top, while the bottoms are black leather.

Most of the guys ogled her like she was a piece of meat, a few even drooled and made small puddles of spit appear on the floor.

The newcomer didn't seem to care much for the attention she was getting as she walked into the guild, heading towards the bar.

Mira narrowed her eyes at the woman, sensing something was off about her, but didn't want to say anything just yet. When the silver-haired woman finally made her way to the counter, she leaned against it and turned her head, looking at the bartender with her uncovered eye.

"Hello, welcome to Fairy Tail, how can I help you?" The bartender inquired, trying her best to sound as convincing as possible to their guest. To add to it, she grabbed a wet towel and began to clean the counter.

"Yes actually, the name's **Betty Ocean ** and I'm looking for someone that supposedly past through **Magnolia** yesterday," she replied. The woman reached into her pocket, pulling out what looked like a piece of parchment and placing it on top of the counter.

Mira raised an eyebrow and stopped cleaning, reaching out to see who exactly it was she was hunting. When the bartender brought the parchment closer, her eyes widen as she recognized who the person was.

On the paper was a portrait of a younger Angela with short hair that only past slightly through her ears, having a scowl on her face. She noticed that the portrait was made sometime ago, indicating that it was around when the black-haired woman was about fifteen years old.

Betty didn't notice the chance in Mira's facial expression due to the parchment blocking her face, but felt the tension emitting from her.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen this woman before," the bartender lied while handing the parchment back to the silver-haired woman.

Unbeknownst to most of the other guild-members, the silver-haired woman moved her head down, hiding both of her eyes with her hair. None of them saw the incredible rage in them, staring with such intensity that she could burn a hole right through the floor.

The only thing passing through Betty's mind was that she wasn't going to give up that easily, having a feeling that her target was in the city somewhere.

After a few more seconds of silence, the silver-haired woman looked up, putting on a cheerful appearance with a big smile on her face. This caused the bartender to widen her eyes with shock, feeling her murderous intent, even while she tried to hide it.

"Alright, thanks and sorry for the trouble," the silver-haired woman replied, grabbing the parchment while walking out of the guild.

Even after the woman walked through the exit and onto the road, most of the guild-members still felt the cold chill left by her.

_"Oh Angela, what have you gotten yourself into," _Mira thought to herself, placing both hands on the counter, wondering what exactly was going on.

All of Fairy Tail sensed that something bad was going to happen, and it would shake the core of their guild.

* * *

**_Street_**

The sun rose up at it's highest point, shining much of it's light onto the citizens of the town, especially those that worked outside. Most people currently working were on their lunch breaks, enjoying a delicious meal to help them stay energized for the rest of the day.

Due to that, the streets were much more empty than usual, making it almost feel like a ghost town if it wasn't for the occasional person walking out of a restaurant.

On one of the streets, Angela and her new current partner Elfman found themselves walking without much trouble or people to block their way.

Though the two weren't exactly on friendly terms, and spent more than half the trip simply walking and looking around when they could. Even without the presence of others, the tension between them was so thick, one would need a saw just to cut through it.

When they finally past through another street and turned onto it to continue their way to the school, the black-haired woman knew that they were getting closer to their destination.

She also knew that if there was gonna be any chance of them succeeding with their mission, both of them had to work together and communicate. Taking in a deep breath, Angela turned her head to look at the tanned man, who kept his focus straight ahead and a serious expression on his face.

"Listen," she began to speak, making the man move his eyes to look at her. "I know you probably heard all the murmurs and whispers about me and what I've done to the guild, and yes, some of them are very true. But if the Master trusts me enough to let me prove myself to everyone, then I hope we can work together to get this done..."

After finishing the long explanation, the black-haired woman kept her eyes on Elfman, who stopped walking and closed his eyes. Part of knew that he'd never want to forgive anyone who would harm not just his friends, but his own family as well, even if they tried to make amends.

Though his beliefs of how a Man should be make him realize that he could only judge her after seeing what her real intentions were. Otherwise, he'd be spitting on everything that he stood for and talked about.

After a long period of silence, the white-haired man opened his eyes and turned to his partner's direction, giving her a stare that could look into almost anyone's soul.

"A real man protects those he cares about, and keeps his promise to his family no matter what it takes. Nee-Chan asked that I help you and I won't fail her, but it doesn't mean that I trust you just yet, at least not until I really know which side you're on."

All Angela could do was stare in disbelief, shocked by how the **Take-Over** mage was to her. While he stated that there was no formal trust between the two, she noticed that not once, did he ever say that he actually hated her like the others.

To her, it gave a sign of hope that while others from the guild didn't exactly approve of her place there, it didn't mean that they wanted her dead. While not the way she wanted people to see her, the black-haired woman couldn't help but smile with joy at his statement.

Seeing the smile, Elfman slightly blushed, looking away as he didn't want his partner to notice his embarrassment.

"Well come on then, a real man isn't late for his duties right?" Angela reminded him, making the white-haired man snap out of his trance and tighten his hand in determination.

"MANLY!"

He yelled out, rushing forward and leaving behind his partner in a large cloud of dust that disappeared after a few seconds.

Angela soon realized what had just happened, causing her to shake her head in annoyance and go off running in hopes of catching up to him.

With both of them gone, sounds of footsteps came out of nowhere, showing two shadows that were near the spot the two fairy-mages were before leaving.

"That was her wasn't it boss?" A male voice inquired with curiosity.

"Yeah... It was her," a female voice replied as the shadow moved into the light, revealing Betty, who now had a sadistic smile on her face. "Get the gang, we're finally taking down that pathetic Phantom bitch and her boyfriend too..."

Bowing in respect, the other shadow disappeared, leaving the tanned woman to walk forward, swaying her hips while heading in the same direction as her target.

_"Don't worry Angela, you won't have to care about what your new home says... Pretty soon, you'll be dead and buried in a hole in the forest," _she thought to herself, licking her plump lips in the process.

* * *

_**Magnolia Lower Elementary**_

Standing in one part of the town was **Magnolia Lower Elementary**, a school that many of the children entered to continue their education after pre-school.

It had multiple buildings divided into different sections, each one packed with many classrooms for the large amount of students that come in. The exterior of the building holds only two significant colors, one with the roof having orange, with its several amount of horizontal lines that run around the entire perimeter of the roof. And the main building itself, which holds several windows, leaving little to no blind spots for students to look outside, is colored in a beige-type of yellow.

Standing atop the roof was a white flag, fluttering in the wind and having what looked like a portrait of a baby chimera on it.

In the front, the figures of Angela and Elfman stood in awe, looking at how big the school was, especially the black-haired woman.

Since leaving her old hometown, she never went to school again and was always forced to learn from her father at any time. The classes weren't normal, each one had her learning skills needed to survive in the world, even if it meant her doing things she didn't want to.

The painful memories flashed through her mind, causing Angela to sweat like crazy until the school bell rang and snapped her out of it.

"So, this is where we're suppose to meet the client?" Elfman asked, crossing his arms and continuing to look at the flag. Part of him liked seeing such a manly beast be the school mascot.

Hearing his question, the black-haired woman reached into her bag, grabbing the folded job request and straightening out to see the content of it.

"Y-yeah, looks like.. Apparently we have to go meet with the principle to get more details on him," she replied with a bit of hesitation in her tone.

"Well let's go then, it's unmanly to keep someone like that waiting!"

With that said, both mages began their walk towards the front entrance, leading them to pull it out and enter. A look of surprise caught both their faces when they saw the inside of the school matched the outside in both design and color.

The only difference was that the walls had many different art projects done by some of the students that go there.

Both Fairy-mages walked in and looked around, seeing the many different displays and colors that decorated the inside. A few of them looked older than a couple of others, indicating that previous students had done those, and still stayed on.

While Elfman didn't seem to mind walking through the halls, Angela was all but calm, often looking around like someone was spying on her. Each door to her was like a miniature prison in her eyes, one having some form of torture device that would cause her or any others pain.

Her tense body jumped in surprise when someone touched her shoulder, causing the woman to turn and look directly at the tanned man next to her.

He was pointing to a door, making Angela turn to see that the duo finally arrived at their destination without any trouble. The white-haired man went towards it, knocking a few times and waiting for someone to answer it.

Seconds later, an older woman opened the door, looking at the duo with a raised eyebrow. Her attire indicated that she was the secretary of the principle, having a light brown business suit and skirt with glasses on her face and her hair in a bun.

"Can I help you?" She inquired, wondering what two young people were doing in a elementary school.

"Uh..Yes, my name is Angela and this is Elfman, we're from Fairy Tail and we're here about the request that got sent to our guild," the black-haired woman remarked as she dug once again into her bag.

After taking out the job request, she passed it over to the secretary, who grabbed it and opened it to read the content inside. When she did, a smile broke on her face as she looked back to the mages with joy in her eyes.

"Yes of course, the principle requested this herself, welcome to our school. I hope the trip wasn't too much for you," she inquired, moving to the side so the two could enter.

"Ha, no trouble at all, takes more than long walking to make a real man tired," the white-haired mage grinned, making Angela roll her eyes in annoyance. Both mages looked to find the office having a warm atmosphere, causing Angela's anxiety to drop instantly.

"Well, please have a seat, I'll let the principle know you two have arrived."

Both mages walked to where the seats were, seeing the woman walked to the door next to her desk and knock a few times. A muffled voice spoke, making the woman open the door and stick her head through to talk with the person on the other side.

After a minute, she backed up and motioned them to enter, making the duo get up from their seats and walked towards her, passing through and entering the office.

Once they entered, the duo found themselves face-to-face with the principle of the elementary school, **Gina Lima**. Like her secretary, the woman was a mature older woman, having life written on her face from the years she lived, with semi-gray hair to match.

The attire she currently wore was a red blazer with black buttons that were all put together, reaching down to where her waist was. Underneath it, one could see a small spot of white, which was her undershirt, and a pearl necklace around her neck.

Her bottom half had a brown skirt, which reached down near her knees, showing off a bit of her cream-colored and hairless skin. At her feet, she wore light-brown heels, which weren't too big and shown to be the comfortable pair woman in education wear at times.

"Thank you Lila, I can take of things from here," the principle remarked, making her secretary bow in respect before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Both Angela and Elfman went to the empty seats in front of her, sitting down on one as they saw their employer straightening out her outfit before taking her own seat.

"Sorry about the delay, "she began to speak. "I've been having to assess all current students in multiple classes today. Not an easy task, but compared to what you mages do, I'm sure something like this isn't such a big deal. I'm Gina Lima, the third principle of this school."

The gray-haired woman extended her hand, making Angela and Elfman shake it as they nodded.

"It's a pleasure, my name is Angela and this is Elfman, we're from Fairy Tail and came to answer the request you sent to us,"the black-haired woman inquired, wanting to cut straight to the point of their visit there.

"Oh yes, thank you again for answering. Truth be told, I didn't expect anyone from the guild would actually want to take a task like this," Gina remarked.

"Ha! A real man takes any challenge and does his best, no matter how big or small," Elfman boasted while smacking his muscles.

A look of confusion appeared on the principle's face, making Angela pinch the bridge of her nose in embarrassment.

_"Oh gods, I hope she doesn't fire us on the spot,"_ the black-haired woman thought to herself.

"That's good, with how these children are, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have such a enthusiastic person like you to show them magic," Gina replied with a chuckle.

Angela only stared with shock, quickly losing the looking of surprise as she wanted to ask the principle a question.

"So, this performing request, why exactly did you want mages to come to your school in the first place?"

"Well, quite a while ago, our students entered in a contest where each class would take a special test to help see where the best and brightest are at. We told them that those who scored well on the tests would have the chance to skip a day of school and enjoy a small festival that we set up in the playground. One of the main attraction's is a special demonstration by mages, which is where the two of you come into play."

"Now that sounds like a manly reward for doing well!" The white-haired mage remarked with confidence.

"...That doesn't even make sense," his partner muttered softly as she turned her attention back to their employer.

"Is there anything in particular we should know about these students, anything that might be important?"

Gina pondered her question, thinking about the select students that would participate in the festival. A few had minor allergies and some others were mostly shy, but in her mind, she didn't think any of those would really matter.

"Nothing of importance, just be sure you are careful when demonstrating your magic, we don't want any trouble to occur," she replied.

"Alright, let's go show these kinds how manly Fairy Tail really is!" The white-haired mage roared out, making both woman shake with surprise at his loud decree.

"Well, the event officially starts in about half an hour, but I can show you where you'll be performing at," the principle remarked as she got up. The duo followed her example and went after her, walking towards one of the exits with sounds of cheering and laughter coming into range.

Nobody knew that on that day, most of the students would gain an experience that would follow them throughout most of their lives.

* * *

**_Playground_**

The wide field behind the school usually had most students having fun on the playground or playing sports on some different parts of it. On that particular day, anyone passing by the campus wouldn't be able to see the multiple booths that were set up a while ago.

Most of them were colorful, each one having someone taking charge of it and the activity that one contained. There were two lines of booths, each one opposite of the other as many students were on either side and exploring what each one had.

One side had mostly food and beverage stands, specializing in fried foods and drinks found in fairs at times. The other had on special games for the children to play as well as prizes that were the reward for the winners, which included some with famous guild-marks on them.

For that day, the field found itself engulfed with more than a dozen students, most of which were laughing and having a great time with their well-deserved reward.

Most were unaware of the three adults that entered, though some saw who they were and just went about their business, not wanting to get into trouble with the principle or the mages with her.

Elfman could only smile at what was in front of him, remembering the times that he often spent at the fair with his older sister. The memories came flooding back, making him remember a person that he lost in the past who loved festivals more than life itself.

Angela on the other hand, was in a state of surprise, seeing how everything for the festival was colorful and cheerful. It had been almost years since the last time she ever went to a festival, and that was back when her mother was still alive.

After her father took her under his wing, she slowly began to realize that any chance to experience the joy of it was long gone. Whenever he took her for long training missions, they often at times stopped by places that had similar fairs going on. Each time she looked at it, Jose attacked her with his magic, knocking her to the ground before making her get back.

He always said the same thing to her.

_"We don't indulge in such frivolous activities, it's a complete waste of time and effort,"_ the voice of her father echoed in her mind. Since then, the black-haired mage never thought of it or even looked around if she ever saw one, though some part of her wished it was different.

Her train of thought broke when someone lightly tapped on her shoulder, making Angela look over to Gina, who was pointing forward. Turning her gaze to where the finger lead, the black-haired woman saw what looked like a simple stage set up near the end of the booths.

Made entirely of wood, it was around the size of the new Fairy-Tail stage that was added to the guild, though much wider. It also had large pillars that held a white curtain that covered the front, making the back completely hidden.

"Wow, real men must've worked hard to build this," the white-haired mage remarked, looking at the craftsmanship.

"Yes, it took the builders a week, but they were able to make it really well done for the performance," Gina replied with a smile. "In fact, my husband was one of the volunteers that aided them."

"That was nice of him, he must really love children," Angela added, making the principle nod in response. "So, should we just go back stage and think of an act or something along that lines?"

"It's up to you how you wish to proceed, I trust you'll be able to provide quite a show for the children. I should actually go announce that the show will start soon to have them all gather on the grass."

With that last statement, Gina thanked the mages once again and left, walking towards her office to declare the announcement. The duo looked at one another before walking around the stage, reaching the back and noticing that it was a bit wider than expected. Seeing the stairs leading to the back of the curtain, both mages walked up them and now stood right on the structure.

"So, how do we give a performance exactly? Never had to do something like that before, wasn't manly enough for me," Elfman inquired, making Angela chuckle.

"Well, it's like fighting, only instead of trying to punch and clobber anyone in your way, we just show off what we can do," the black-haired woman remarked.

"Now that sounds like a real manly performance!"

"Just don't go overboard, we don't need to scare them, they're still kids after all."

Elfman gave his signature grin and started doing stretches, wanting to get himself warmed up for the performance. Before his partner could say anything, a loud screech echoed, catching the attention of everyone in the field.

"_**Good Afternoon students, this is Principle Gina with a special announcement for those in the festival. The special performance will be beginning in ten minutes, please be sure not to have any drinks or snacks with you. Gather around the grass where the stage is at and sit in rows when it is time, thank you.**_"

With that, a small amount of students continued playing their games or eating while most of the rest flocked over to where the stage was. Even though they were behind the curtain, the duo could feel the excitement that generated from most of the young children.

_"Gods, I really hope this goes well,_" Angela thought in her mind, feeling nervous about having to perform in front of so many children. Though one look at Elfman's confident face, and she began to relax, remembering that it was a simple request and made to be fun. With that knowledge, the black-haired woman began doing some stretches of her own, figuring that she couldn't let her partner do it alone.

Seeing this, Elfman gave a genuine smile towards the woman, showing her the stretches and enjoying himself for the first time since taking this mission.

Meanwhile, in the distance, most of the people in the field were unaware of a figure standing on the fence, who looked on at the state, causing the person to tighten up with tension.

Soon enough, there would be chaos and everyone would become part of it's insidious plan.

* * *

**_Looks like things about to get messy, and that's not the corn dogs talking. Thanks for your patience everyone, sorry for the long wait, classes have been a nightmare and issues at home have me trying to find new things to do outside of the house. I will hopefully manage to continue my work on here so just bare with me as I go through this._**

**_References: For those not familiar with Japanese surnames, Nii means older siblings depending on how you use it, example for a boy is Nee-San and for a girl, it's Nee-Chan. The school mascot was a favor for a friend that I work with on a wiki, who gave me the idea so I wanted to thank him for that. The comment about anyone and their friend coming to tell Angela they didn't like her is from Star Wars IV: A New Hope when two of the bar-goers go to bother Luke, thought it'd be funny to post. _**

**_So I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review or comment on anything you all think I should be adding more of, I am always looking for feedback on my story. Stay tuned for Chapter 30: Labors of Trust II._**


	30. Labors of Trust II

**_Chapter 30_**

**_Labors of Trust II_**

**_Hey everyone, it's officially the 30th chapter and this calls for a special treat that I hope many of you will find exciting. I will be doing a special one-shot that connects with this story and will be set for the future after it ends, meaning when Fairy Tail ends. It will be a long one-shot and will have original characters, along with parings many people have talked about before, so I hope you will all enjoy it. I'd like to thank the people who have been with this story since the beginning, it's been a pleasure to have you read and enjoy my work to the point of keeping up with it._**

**_Enjoy this chapter._**

* * *

_**Summary**_

_**Angela has now gained her first Official Job: Performing for a group of children at the local Elementary School in Magnolia alongside her newest partner, Elfman. Little do they know, a figure spies on them in the distance.**_

* * *

_**Magnolia Lower Elementary**_

_**Playground**_

The large clock moved it's smaller hand to the one, causing the school bell to ring for the day as most of the students began their walk towards the exit to head home.

Most of their conversations that overlapped was what they would do for the rest of the day, while others began making plans for a study group.

Though a small handful attempted to enter into the festival, detaching from the crowd and going back into the building. They slowly looked around before attempting to exit through the back door, but found themselves meeting with two large guards.

The two looked down at the small group and reminded them that only students who had proof of their grade could enter, which none of them had.

Grumbling under their breaths, they walked away and left through the front exit once more, going their separate ways towards their homes.

While the guards felt bad about it, they knew that orders were orders and stood their ground, only hearing coming from the back of their door.

* * *

In the back of the school, most of the vendors were now on break, going about their business and eating some of the foods their neighbors provided. Though a few had their attention focused on a large crowd of students, most of which were now on the grass in front of the wooden stage.

Many of them had excitement plastered on their faces, eagerly awaiting for the event that was about to begin.

Many of them had excitement plastered on their faces, eagerly awaiting for the event that was about to begin. Their talks with one another soon came to a halt when **Principle Gina Lima** passed through the curtain, holding a microphone in hand.

Coughing a bit to clear out anything that was stuck in her throat, the older woman looked on at the students and began to speak.

"Hello my students, as many of you know, I am Principle Gina and I was the one who orchestrated this entire festival for those who did well on the school wide test. Many of you worked hard and ranked among the well-placed in this school, and for that, you should all be very proud of yourselves."

Half the crowd cheered, leaving the other half to simply look on and wait for the woman to continue.

"As your teachers previously stated, in addition to the many booths provided for you, we have two special guests who will be joining us. Before I go on, how many of you all know the guild, **Fairy Tail**?"

Immediately, every single hand in the audience shot up, having many of the children look on with excited smiles on their faces. Most often hear the incredible stories heard throughout most of their town itself, some real and others utter crap.

Though despite the uncertainty, most of the students looked up to them like idols, always wishing that one day they would come to their school.

Gina couldn't help but smile, happy to see that her hard work wasn't going to waste, especially with the choice of entertainment.

"Goodness, so many of you indeed, well today I have a special treat for you all. After some convincing, I've managed to hire two mages from there to come and perform for you all, and they're just behind these curtains."

That single statement caused every single child to yell out in an uproar, making even the newly built stage shake from the vibration. There wasn't any doubt that they were going to not enjoy the show, making the principle sigh internally with relief.

"Though I introduce them, remember, you are this school's best and brightest, so I expect all of you to behave as such. You will show them the proper respect and give them your undivided attention And ask them questions in a polite manner, understood?"

The entire crowd of children nodded, anxiously waiting for the woman to finally make the introductions. Their excited faces made her smile with glee, happy to see that her choice of entertainment was well worth the money she spent.

"Alright, without further adieu, I'd like you all to give a big round of applause to Angela and Elfman Strauss!"

Every single child in the crowd erupted with a frantic round of applause as the Principal walked off the stage. The curtains drew back, revealing both Fairy-Tail mages, who smiled and began their walk towards the center.

In response to the cheers, Elfman gave the guild's signature action, lifting up his arm and extending his thumb and pointing finger. The action surprised the white-haired mage's partner as she saw most of the children in front of her do the same.

She had not ever seen anything like it, with only a simple action, her audience was now calm and keeping up their imitations. The crowd soon dropped their hands after Elfman saw their employer walk towards them, holding a separate microphone in her hand.

Heading towards the black-haired mage, the Principal handed her the stick and walked off quickly, not wanting to keep them waiting.

Clearing her throat, wanting to make sure that there wasn't anything stuck, she smiled at the crowd and began to talk.

"Hello there everyone, it's so great to see all of you, have you enjoyed the festival so far?"

The crowd remarked with a loud yes, making Angela chuckle slightly at their enthusiasm as she walked closer to the stage edge.

"That's great to hear! Like Principle Gina said, you all worked really hard and deserved this so much."

"That's right!" Elfman shouted, grabbing the mic from Angela's hand before continuing. "You worked hard like real men, and for me, that's just Manly!"

Most of the young boys in the crowd repeated the word, making some of the girls laugh at them as they flexed their muscles like Elfman.

The black-haired woman chuckled and reached over for the mic, grabbing it once more before continuing her talk.

"And because of that, we're gonna try to do our best to make sure everyone enjoys seeing what Fairy Tail can do. Before we begin though, we're gonna make things a little bit interesting..."

The crowd looked at one another, murmuring in whispers as they wondered what exactly Angela meant by that. Even the white-haired male raised an eyebrow with curiosity, wondering what her plan was to make things more interesting.

"What I'm gonna do is ask three questions during this performance, each one will be something about mages. From there, I'll pick at least one person out of the audience to answer it, and if they can get close enough, they'll have the chance to be part of the finale."

The last part of the sentence made most of the children cheer with joy, a few more than others especially. Most had almost never seen real magic other than in books and Lacrima-vision shows, and it was their dream to be able to help real life mages.

With the crowd finally settling down, Angela looked to Elfman and nodded, making him grin with excitement. He soon walked off the stage to head towards the curtains, pulling it back to reveal three large cinder blocks.

At the request of the duo, the school was kind enough to lend them three stone blocks to help them out with their performance. They figured it was better than having the campus become target practice, especially if **Natsu Dragneel** came.

"Alright, now to begin, here's the first question: Can anyone tell me what a mage's job is?"

With that, a wave of hands erupted followed by begging of the students to pick them, surprising Angela instantly. After the shock wore off, she jumped down from the stage and walked around, trying to see which child she would pick.

Stopping near the middle, Angela pointed to a young boy with short brown hair and wearing a Fairy-Tail shirt with the guild-mark on the front.

"Alright, stand up for me," she asked as the young boy shot up like a bullet and smiled with excitement. Angela then moved the mic towards him, allowing everyone to hear what his answer would .

"What's your name?"

"**Hugo Lang**," he replied in a confident tone, grinning ear to ear at the woman, making her blush slightly.

"Alright Hugo, so tell me, what is a mage's job?"

"That's super easy! Mages go around doing awesome job requests and going out on adventures, breaking stuff and getting paid. They also use awesome magic that can do all sorts of cool spells."

A soft laugh escaped Angela's lips as she pulled the mic back to speak into it, "Yes, that's technically true, though breaking stuff is just an extra."

That small joke made the students laugh as she walked away and jumped back onto stage with each before turning around.

"That's correct, Mages go around accepting requests from anyone to do any type of job that's needed and receives payment. Magic is also a major part of it, especially for jobs that require a bit more strength than most. In fact, everyone take a look at Elfman."

Everyone's eyes turned to the tanned Take-Over mage as he finished stacking all three blocks on top of each other. He turned to see the attention on him and smiled, cracking his neck when he realized that they were finally gonna get the show on the road.

"He's a big guy with Manly muscles, but even those aren't enough when it comes to certain jobs. So to make sure he can do his best, Elfman uses a special magic called **Take-Over**."

Right when she said that, a large amount of light surrounded Elfman, making most of the audience members look on with opened mouths. It was the first time many of them saw a golden light like that, showering the stage with it's radiant light and warmth.

After a few seconds, the glowing slowly died down and revealed Elfman, only now his arm was now iron, and twice as big.

"WHOOAAH!" The crowd of children yelled out in excitement, awestruck by the phenomenon that just occurred in front of them. Even some of the other teachers that were sitting in their own spot looked on with amazement, never experiencing something like that before.

"What he just used was a spell that his magic can do, which is basically to take on the form And power of something that he absorbs."

"I call this my **Beast Soul: Iron Bull**," Elfman yelled out to the kids due to not having a mic. "Now, I'll show you all just how a real man uses his magic!"

Right after he spoke, many of the audience saw him jump high into the air, stopping for a few seconds, and then drop down. Though while he dropped, the Take-Over mage lifted his arm upward, aiming right where the blocks were at, and slammed down.

In one chop, all three found themselves reduced to rubble, causing a huge uproar by the children when they saw it. More than half clapped with amazement, while others couldn't help but just look on in shock at what they saw.

All Elfman knew was that the kids were having fun and they loved what he did, making him swell up with pride before thrusting his arms upward and yelling his favorite word.

"MMMAANLLLY!"

Much of the crowed repeated it, making him bow in to them before cancelling his spell and taking a few steps back to allow Angela to continue.

"Alright, that was quite the stunt, and thank you all for that wonderful round of applause, he really appreciates it."

Elfman bowed to the children as he looked over to Angela, seeing how big of a smile she had on her face, almost like the nervous girl she first met disappeared.

Despite his initial anger towards the black-haired woman, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. His mind soon went back to earlier in the morning, when he along with some of the other members of Fairy-Tail talked with their Guild-Master about their new member.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_"Master, I'm all for trying to give people chances, but you can't seriously expect us to just sit by and let the daughter of Jose stay with us," Macao huffed with frustration. _

_In a small circle near the middle of the guild, some of it's members, including Macao, Max, Jet and Droy, and lastly Warren. Most of them were some of the more expressive people of Fairy Tail, making sure that even if they risked punishment, Makarov would hear their statements. _

_Elfman was nearby, hearing all the commotion that was going on and got up to investigate, hearing every part of the conversation that followed. _

_"I'm fully aware of her situation Macao, but I cannot just let this child go into the darkness, especially when she's been there all her life," Makarov strongly stated. _

_The Guild-Master's took a long drink from his mug, coughing out from the sting that it delivered before returning his sights on the group. _

_"Master, you can't seriously expect that she isn't working some angle here, I mean this was the girl who helped Jose kidnap Lucy!" Max chimed in with frustration. _

_"Not to mention how she just stood by and let that bastard hurt us and Levy, I mean how can we ever trust such a person?!" Jet added with a frustrated yell, making Droy nod in agreement. _

_"The decision is already made, continuing this pointless argument will not benefit anyone-"_

_"The hell it won't!" Warren interrupted, making the Guild-Master tighten his grip around the wooden mug, feeling himself start to lose patience. " I may not be able to read her mind, but even I see that this girl is nothing but a ticking time bomb, how she ever managed to trick Rodin and Trixie is beyond me. Even so, that doesn't mean we just forget everything that the bastard's daughter did-"_

_"ENOUGH!"_

_The pressure around the area compressed, breaking some of the wooden chairs instantly, causing everyone in the guild to stop what they were doing and turn to the source of the phenomenon.  
_

_An eerie silence took over, leaving only sounds of soft breathing to echo across the hall as Makarov stood up from his spot. Finishing the last of his drink, the old-man jumped off and started walking towards his office, but not before turning over to the guild. _

_"That young woman has suffered more than anyone in this very guild, enslaved by the person meant to nurture and guide her through life. What she did under his control is an unforgivable action, even more so when it's caused in someone else's name. Even so, I would never forgive myself if I encountered her and did nothing to aid her in any way, to leave her in the darkness..."_

_Those last words made most of the guild members look at one another, realizing the seriousness of Makarov's words. When he knew that the words got to all of them, the Guild-Master took his leave up the stairs, making his way to the office. _

_After the door slammed shut, everyone went about their regular routine as the tension left the atmosphere. The small circle disbursed in frustration, leaving Elfman to keep his eyes on the floor, continuing to think about what he just heard._

* * *

_**Present**_

When the memory ended, his attention returned on Angela, who now jumped off the stage once more, holding the mic close to her mouth.

"Alright, now we move on to question two, when mage's learn how to use magic, what's the best thing they have to have?"

Like before, hands shot up like bullets, making Angela looked around for a few seconds before pointing to a girl on the far left of the audience.

Walking over there, she stopped in front of a blond-haired child, wearing what looked like a normal blue t-shirt and jeans with her hair in a ponytail.

"And what's your name, sweetie?" Angela asked with a kind tone.

When the young girl stood up, the black-haired woman moved the mic towards her so she could speak into it.

"I'm **Nancy Blitz**, and what my mom told me was that a mage has to be able to use their magic well, or else they'd get hurt or worse."

"That's correct indeed!" Angela replied with excitement, "Even if a mage has the strongest magic around, it wouldn't matter. Control and focus must become the focal point or else you risk hurting those you care about and people around you."

"Nu-uh," a voice countered as most of the students turned to see their fellow classmate standing up. "My dad says that the strongest mages always win, even if they fight against hundreds of people!"

Angela chuckled as her laugh echoed through the audience, making them wonder what was so funny. She pulled the mic back before bringing it close to her mouth while making her way back to the stage.

"That's partially true, though the thing many people don't realize is even if you have the strongest magic in the world. If you don't have proper control over it, people around you including those you care about will always be in danger."

The serious tone caused many of the students to stop their whispers and look on with slight fear in their eyes. Angela stopped right near the stage before looking over shoulder, seeing the expressions on their faces and realizing her mistake. She had to remember that they were still just children, who've never experienced how cruel the world really was.

She once again jumped back on stage and turned towards her audience with a look of conviction on her face. The black-haired mage knew she had to get them back in the spirit of this performance.

"However, that doesn't mean that having incredibly strong magic isn't a bad thing, especially when you can do incredible things with it. Take me for example, my magic is a special rare one that no one else has in the world, almost like a Dragon-Slayer."

The statement caused many of the students to cheer up, making them excited once again and keeping their eyes on the woman. Seeing that the lure worked, Angela looked over to Elfman, who raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering what was going through her mind.

"Just follow my lead," she whispered, covering the mic with her other hand so the comment wouldn't echo through the speakers.

After turning back to the audience, the black-haired mage closed her eyes and began to concentrate. At first, the kids were a bit confused by what was going up, but soon snapped out of it when a large blue aura started glowing all around the woman's body.

Exhaling a slow and steady breath, Angela manipulated the aura and started to condense it, shaping her entire body with it. Soon enough, the aura now completely engulfed the woman, shaping around her entire body perfectly, almost like it was a second skin.

Opening her eyes, the look of her audience's faces made the woman smile softly, relieved that they were back to their normal selves. With the mic still in hand, she moved it towards her mouth once more before beginning to speak once more.

"This magic I can do is called **Shatterpoint**, which is extremely rare because not only is it powerful, it's dangerous to other mages," Angela stated. Some of the students were skeptical about what the performer said, wondering how exactly would an aura be dangerous to other mages.

"To demonstrate, my partner Elfman is going to use one of his spells and attempt to attack me like I was an actual enemy."

That statement made most of the kids, and even the white-haired mage, widen their eyes in surprise. Before Elfman could say anything, Angela turned right at him, stretching both her arms before nodding at him.

The Take-Over mage wasn't the type to go against his belief's about being a man, but also knew that he also had a duty to keep his word. He soon remember how Rodin told the guild before how tough of an opponent she was, reassuring him about what he was about to do.

Extending one of his arms forward, a familiar square pixelization and light shined off it, indicating that a spell was forming.

"**Beast Soul: Lizard!**"

When the glowing stopped, his arm now showed to have a reptilian arm shown to look like a brown gauntlet-like arm with sharp claws and green scales that started from his shoulder and ended at his elbow. It was twice the size of his original arm and having black spikes run down the forearm to his shoulder.

Angela gave one last look over to her audience, holding the mic back to her mouth.

"Don't worry kids, we're trained mages and Elfman knows how to pull his punches, this is all for the purpose of the performance," she reassured them before placing the mic on the ground.

Getting into a defensive stance, the black-haired woman gave a smile at the white-haired mage, making him realize it was time. Yelling out his signature cry, Elfman rushed at her, pulling his arm back and attempting to slash right at her.

A few of the children closed their eyes in fear, not wanting to see what was about to come next.

Fortunately for them, they were met with something that just left them awestruck.

Right when Elfman's arm was about to connect to Angela, the woman reacted and grabbed it with both hands instantly, stopping it in it's tracks. Though it didn't end there as the blue aura soon started surrounding the take-over spell, causing a glow that broke apart the spell in a small explosion.

Elfman winced a little in pain as he jumped back with smoke still covering his hand, wondering what the heck had just happened. When it finally died down, a look of shock soon followed after as he saw that not only did his spell disappear, but his sleeve was still intact.

_"Crazy, that almost felt like she blew my whole arm off into pieces, but it's still here," _the white-haired mage thought to himself.

Most of the crowed awed in amazement, never seeing anything like that happen before, especially in person. Soon after, small claps started emerging until it became a loud applause for the black-haired woman and her partner.

Angela's aura soon died down as she let out a smooth slow breath, happy that her attempt went exactly as planned. With it gone, she knelt down and grabbed the mic once more to speak, making most of the audience stop and slowly die down.

"As I said before, my magic is dangerous to other mages because it not only stops spells, it can also stop magic from being used. Though as many of you saw, if I didn't do it right and with proper training, it could have been much more worse for my partner. Even so, it was still pretty awesome, wasn't it?"

Most of the crowd yelled yes in response, making the black-haired woman chuckle with joy at their positive response. For the first time since leaving Phantom Lord, Angela was finally remembering what it was like to have some real fun.

There was no one to judge or punish her for not doing something right and people, albeit kids, enjoyed seeing her perform. She couldn't help but give a grin towards the crowd, feeling like for the first time in her life, everything was working out in the end.

"Alright, now we've reached our third and last question, can anyone tell me what's the most important thing for a mage?"

The crowd once again raised their hands, waving around like leaves blowing in the wind for them to get selected to answer. Angela went off and walked around, trying to decide who she'd pick, but something strange soon caught her attention.

Near the back of the audience at the end corner, while every other child was attempting to get picked, one little girl didn't have her hand up. Having black-hair like Angela, she was sitting down with her knees close to her chest, hugging them and looking down at her shoes.

The young girl's outfit consisted of light blue denim overalls with a red t-shirt under them and matching sneakers with them.

Looking at her, the mage couldn't help but see her younger self, almost identical to the child in the same position when she was her age.

Walking towards her, she knelt down, causing the young girl to look up and stare right at her with almost life-less eyes.

"What's your name sweetie?" Angela inquired with a motherly-tone, trying to make her feel comfortable enough to talk as she moved the mic a bit closer to the child.

At first, she seemed a bit nervous at the question and kept tightening and loosening her grip, but after looking at the kind smile of the performer. The girl took a deep breath before clearing her throat and moving her mouth closer to the mic before speaking.

"**H..Haley**... **Haley Minx**," the timid girl replied with a soft tone.

"That's a pretty name Harley, it's really nice to meet you. So, do you know what's the most important thing for a mage?"

The young girl started to breath shakily, feeling all the eyes of her fellow classmates focus towards her. All Harley could do was try and pretend they weren't there, but found it difficult the more time passed. It almost felt like she was mere moments away from passing out, until a hand snapped her back into reality.

Her attention turned towards Angela, who gave a confident smile at the girl, and gently rubbed her shoulder to relax her.

"Don't worry, just take your time and say it when you're ready."

A small swirl of relief spread through her body, calming her down and allowing her to speak without any hesitation.

"I... I think it's having... comrades?" She remarked with the same timid tone as before, but without any hesitation.

Everyone was both surprised and in shock by what they just witnessed, never expecting the shy girl of the school to answer the question. Soon after it wore off, all the eyes now focused on the Fairy-Tail mage, wondering whether or not the answer was right.

"That's right!" Angela remarked with a excited tone, standing up to look at all the students before continuing to speak. " Even the strongest of mages have people that they count on to fight along side them as allies, no one can ever do something all by themselves."

Most of the children looked at one another, trying to understand the meaning behind what the performer said. Though Harley could only look on in admiration, feeling like Angela truly understood her in more ways than one.

With the question answered, the black-haired mage returned to her deck and faced the audience once more.

"Alright, as I promised, the three that answered the questions I asked during this entire performance. Please come on up, you guys are gonna be our special helpers for our finishing demonstration."

With that, most of the audience cheered and applauded as Hugo, Nancy, and Harley all stood up from their spots to make their way towards the stage. All except Haley had excitement on their faces as they made it onto the stage and stood in the middle a few feet from one another.

Angela and Elfman both walked up to the opposite sides of the children before looking back to the audience.

"Alrighty then," Angela began to speak, "this is gonna be one for the history books of this school, because you kids are gonna see these three actually perform magic themselves!".

The three volunteers looked at the performer with confusion, wondering what she meant by that. The kids knew they themselves didn't know how to do any kind of magic, so how would they show off to everyone in the crowd?

Their answer came when Angela walked over to Hugo first, bending her knees down to his level as she smiled at him.

"Okay Hugo, we're gonna first start off with you. What I want you to do is tell me, don't say it outloud, whisper something you really like in my ear. Then close your eyes and imagine it coming to life, alright?"

At first, the boy had excitement plastered on his face, but now, his mood mimicked Harley's as he couldn't help but shake with fear. Hugo couldn't get any words out of his mouth, leaving him to feel embarrassed in front of his friends.

Before the black-haired mage could reassure him, Elfman decided to give his own pep talk now as he gently placed his hand on the young boy's shoulder.

"Hey, have more confidence in yourself, you can do this if you really focus and give it everything you got, that's how you become a real man!"

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, leaving Angela surprised when the smile returned to Hugo's face.

The young boy nodded at the take-over mage and moved hishead closer Angela's ear, covering it with his hand so no one could see what he was whispering.

After he finished, Hugo turned to the crowd and took a deep breath before closing his eyes to concentrate.

Angela gave a smile to Elfman, who crossed his arms, wanting to enjoy this part of the show himself. Soon enough, the black-haired mage began to focus, calling up her Thought Projection as she remembered what was the idea Hugo chose.

Everyone started to get a bit bored, but soon started seeing a shape begin to form right in front of them, solidifying from top to bottom. When it finished, everyone gasped in surprise before letting out a loud cheer and applause.

When Hugo heard the commotion, he opened his eyes and mirrored them as well, seeing the image he pictured in his mind. Even the two girls standing next to him couldn't help but look in wonder by what they witnessed.

"Looks like you do have magic after all Hugo, maybe one day you'll be an incredible mage yourself," Angela remarked before she cancelled the projection.

The young boy couldn't hear what she said as he kept on dancing, making everyone laugh before Elfman managed to calm him down.

"Alright, next up is Nancy everyone, and what she's gonna do is call up her own magic energy and use it like my Shatterpoint," Angela continued as she walked over to the little girl. "Okay, what I'm gonna do is put both my hands on your shoulders, then I want you to concentrate and imagine the energy going up and out of your body, okay?"

The blond-haired child nodded in response and stood at attention, putting both her arms at her sides. After passing the mic for Elfman to hold, Angela walked over to the girl and placed her hands on her shoulders, getting ready to use her magic.

After taking a few deep breaths, Nancy began to do what the mage told her to, imagining the energy starting to rise out of her. Seeing that she was ready to go, Angela began to focus her Shatterpoint, using it's secondary effect and allowing her to pass on the magic to her volunteer.

Soon enough, in the same manner as it's master, the blue energy started to rise up and out from the young girl's body, making everyone cheer and applaud once again.

Like Hugo, Nancy opened her eyes and felt the energy around her, almost like it was a gentle fire that was enveloping her. She couldn't help but move her arms around, seeing the magic move along with her and move in perfect sync.

"So what do you think Nancy?" Angela inquired with a soft smile.

"This is so awesome!" The blond-haired child yelled out with excitement, wishing that it could last forever.

When the crowd finally settled, everyone was eager to see what they would do next, but soon stopped when everyone heard someone still clapping.

The attention of the crowd and the performers turned in the direction of where it was coming from, wondering who was still slowly clapping.

They found the source to be a cloaked figure, who stood in the way of the sunlight, making it a bit difficult to see their face.

"Wow... That was some impressive magic, even if it was just some trick done by a fake mage," a female voice spoke out from the figure, sending a chill down Angela's spine.

When they stopped clapping, the figure walked closer towards the crowd, moving alongside them with in a casual way. The kids couldn't help but feel a bit afraid of the person, sensing that something was off about them, especially with their face still hidden.

The cloaked figure stopped right at the side of the stage, jumping up to land on it, just a few feet away from Elfman, Angela, and the kids.

Some of the adults were a bit confused by the sudden arrival of another mage, but soon found themselves unable to say anything. Out of nowhere, squads of hooded mages appeared instantly, knocking out the adults and looking on in amusement.

The children immediately yelled out in fear and were about to scream in terror, but all of them found it difficult as magic rope wrapped around them. A single piece covered a couple of kids together, not only keeping them from running, but also muting their voices so they couldn't scream.

Angela looked with shock at the children before glaring back at the person with such hatred in her eyes, she could burn a hole through solid steel.

"Aww come on Angie, what's that look for? You of all people should be happy to see Me, after all..." She slowly dropped the hood and revealed her face, making Angela's eyes widen in horror. "We had such a good time together last time, didn't we?"

"...Betty..." The black-haired mage remarked in a hushed tone, unsure of what was going to happen next.

* * *

_**Boom, Now the kids, teachers, and even the mages are in some serious hot water, Wonder how they'll get out of this one.**_

_**Thanks for reading everyone, sorry it took so long, life kind of got to me and I was feeling sort of down with this story since not a lot of people really seem to enjoy it too much. In any case, I'm still gonna keep it going regardless and hope for the best in the future. For those wondering, I will be explaining more about the history between Betty and Angela in the next chapter so stayed tune. Also I may be making another story in the future, though it's not set in stone just yet so keep a look out for any announcements I may make.**_

_**Thanks for reading this story up to this point, you all have no idea how great that makes me feel knowing people really stayed with it even with the grammar problems and such. Stayed tune for Chapter 31: Labors of Trust III: Vendetta.**_


	31. Final Announcement

_**Announcement**_

For those who have been reading my story, Fairy Tail Gaia and are following it and waiting for the next chapter, I'm sorry to say that I will not be continuing the series anymore. The pressure on this site got to me, having to keep pushing and pushing to make a story that people could enjoy and review. In that mental thinking, I found myself getting more and more depressed when nobody would review my work, when nobody would leave words of encouragement to me. If I want to continue a story, I often feel like I need to know that I'm not just doing it so its online for me to read. For those who enjoyed the story and wish it to be continued, I am more than happy to let anyone whose up to the task continue it if they so choose to. All I need is someone to message me and ask for approval. I hope you all enjoyed this story and you will all continue to support struggling writers on this site.


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